Daily Times

Islamabad: Hours after reports of an attack on a school van in Battal sector along the Line of Control (LoC) by Indian troops on Thursday, Pakistani forces retaliated and destroyed an Indian Army check post, killing five soldiers and injuring several others, said a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

It said, “Indian terrorism against innocent citizens shall be responded befittingly.”

The ISPR said that the check post destroyed in the retaliatory fire was the same post from where the school van was hit, killing the driver on the spot.

ISPR DG Major General Asif Ghafoor tweeted, “Indian unethical and unprofessional approach across the LoC continues terrorising civilians.” The ISPR DG said that such attacks were a violation of the Geneva Convention and a clear violation of the 2003 ceasefire agreement between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

“The van was bringing back four students from Mandhol to their homes in the Dharamsal area where it was targeted by Indian troops at about 1:30pm,” Assistant Commissioner Sikandar Hayat earlier told the media.

Mandhol is located on the right bank of Poonch River, while Dharamsal lies on the left bank. An Indian army post is just a stone’s throw away from this village.

Published in Daily Times, February 16^th 2018.