RAWALPINDI: A four-year-old boy died and four people suffered injuries as a result of unprovoked firing by the Indian army along the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border between Pakistan and India at Jammu and Kashmir, and the Working Boundary.
A media report quoting Deputy Commissioner Neelum Raja Mahmood Shahid said that the four-year-old victim, Hussain Mir, was killed in Bantil village when the Indian forces started shelling earlier today. “The innocent boy was hit by shrapnel from a mortar shell in the first bout of shelling while he was standing in the courtyard of their house. He died on the spot,” Shahid was quoted as saying.
Earlier in the day, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) tweeted: “Indian Army troops resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation late last night along LoC and working boundary in Chirikot and Shakargarh sectors deliberately targeting [the] civilian population.”
“Due to the firing, [a] 35-year-old innocent civilian resident of Serian village got injured in Shakargarh sector along Working Boundary [while] 57-year-old citizen resident of village Nangal sustained serious injuries,” it added in the subsequent tweet.
… 35 years old innocent civilian resident of Serian village got injured in Shakargarh Sector along Working Boundary, 57 years old citizen resident of village Nangal sustained serious injuries.
Both Injured have been evacuated and being provided with medical care. (2/2)
— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) April 12, 2020
According to the statement, both of the victims have been evacuated and are being provided with medical treatment.
Yesterday, at least six persons were injured as a result of unprovoked Indian firing across the LoC. According to ISPR, Indian troops engaged in heavy firing and shelling on civilian areas including Sharda, Dhudnial and Shahkot sectors.
“Due to [the] Indian Army’s indiscriminate fire of heavy weapons at Bessan Wali and Chhari villages, four innocent civilians including a [15-year-old] girl sustained serious injuries,” ISPR Director General Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar had announced, adding: “Pakistan Army troops responded effectively with matching calibre targeted those Indian Army posts which initiated fire.”
According to ISPR, since January this year, the Indian army 708 violations of the ceasefire agreement wherein at least two civilians embraced martyrdom and 42 received wounds.
Separately, Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan appealed United Nations (UN) Secretary General António Guterres to take serious notice of the Indian unprovoked firing on the civilian population.
In his twitter message on Sunday, the AJK prime minister said that unprovoked, indiscriminate and unrelenting ceasefire violations (CFVs) by Indian Army are not only causing civilian casualties and damages to the public properties but are also disturbing state government’s efforts to contain COVID-19 in areas along the restive ceasefire line.
Earlier on Thursday, the army shot down an intruding Indian quadcopter after it violated Pakistan’s airspace in Sankh district.
According to ISPR, the quadcopter “intruded 600 metres into Pakistan’s territory to conduct surveillance”.
“This blatant act was aggressively responded to by Pakistan Army troops shooting down [the] Indian quadcopter,” the press release had said.
Condemning the latest ceasefire violation, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the world must take notice of New Delhi’s belligerent behaviour.
Talking to journalists, FM Qureshi said that the ceasefire violations by Indian
