5 Civilians including 2 innocent boys and 2 elderly women have been injured in unprovoked firing by Indian troops alongside LoC.
According to the ISPR, 5 Civilians including 2 innocent boys and 2 elderly women got injured, due to Indian Army troops unprovoked ceasefire violation in Nikial Sector along LOC, targeting civil population late last night. Pakistan Army troops responded effectively to Indian firing.
5 Civilians including 2 innocent boys and 2 elderly women got injured, due to Indian Army troops unprovoked ceasefire violation in Nikial Sector along #LOC, targeting civil population late last night. Pakistan Army troops responded effectively to Indian firing.
— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) July 6, 2020
Earlier, on July 1, Indian Army had initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation along the LoC, killing a resident of Talwari village.
The ISPR spokesperson said a young boy was martyred due to indiscriminate firing by the Indian armed forces.
On July 2, Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui had condemned Indian security forces’ unabated ceasefire violations along the LoC.
Read more: Indian troops martyr two more Kashmiri youth in Pulwama
She added that in the first six months of 2020, 1,546 ceasefire violations occurred, resulting in the martyrdom of 14 innocent civilians and serious injuries to 114 others.
She also added that Pakistan has been consistently sensitizing the international community about the Indian leadership’s threatening statements to use terrorism as a tool to destabilize Pakistan.
She said Pakistan has already shared with the international community, incriminating evidence about the Indian Intelligence Agency RAW’s involvement in terrorist activities in Pakistan.
Tense border
Already fraught relations between the two South Asian nuclear rivals further flared up after India scrapped the special provisions of the state of Jammu and Kashmir last August.
From 1954 until Aug. 5, 2019, Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed special status under the Indian Constitution, which allowed it to enact its own laws.
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The provisions also protected the region’s citizenship law, which barred outsiders from settling in and owning land in the territory.
Jammu and Kashmir, divided by Line of Control from Azad Kashmir, is held by India and Pakistan in parts, and claimed by both in full. A small sliver is also held by China.
Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought four wars — in 1948, 1965, 1971, and 1999 — three of them over Kashmir.
Read more: Pakistan welcomes joint statement by six human rights organisations on Kashmir
Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or unification with neighboring Pakistan.
According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.
FO summons Indian diplomat
The Foreign Office on Monday summoned a senior Indian diplomat over the unprovoked firing along the LOC. Pakistan registered a “strong protest” at the ceasefire violations after the military said five civilians were injured by Indian firing in Nikial sector.
A statement issued by the Foreign Office read that due to “indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian occupation forces […] on July 5, 10-year-old Junaid, 7-year-old Aryan, 70-year-old Jahan Begum, 50-year-old Zubaida Bibi and 15-year-old Kamran Shafique sustained serious injuries”.
The statement added that India had committed 1,595 ceasefire violations since the start of this year, which had resulted in 14 deaths and serious injuries to 121 people.
“The Indian occupation forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) have been continuously targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons,” the statement said.
Online Int’l News with additional input by GVS News Desk