Daily Times

Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Babar Iftikhar Monday said the Indian Army troops targeted civilian population along the Line of Control (LoC) in unprovoked ceasefire violation and martyred five innocent civilians.

In a tweet, the ISPR DG said as many as five civilians including two innocent boys and two elderly women got injured due to Indian Army troops unprovoked CFV in Nikial Sector, along LoC, targeting civil population late last night. He added that Pakistan Army troops responded effectively to Indian firing.

Following the incident, a senior Indian diplomat was summoned at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to register Pakistan’s strong protest over the ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along Line of Control.

The Foreign Office said the Indian occupation forces along LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) had been continuously targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons. This year, India has committed 1,595 ceasefire violations to date, resulting in 14 martyred and 121 seriously injured.

Condemning the deplorable targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, it was underscored that such senseless acts are in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding, and are also against all established humanitarian norms and professional military conduct. “These egregious violations of international law reflect consistent Indian attempts to escalate the situation along the LoC and are a threat to regional peace and security,” the Foreign Office said.

It was added that by raising tensions along the LoC and the WB, India could not divert attention from the grave human rights situation in the Indian-held Kashmir (IHK).

The Indian side was called upon to respect the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding, investigate this and other such incidents of deliberate ceasefire violations and maintain peace along the LoC and the WB. It was urged upon to allow the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions.

In occupied Kashmir, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) on Monday paid glowing tributes to prominent youth leader Burhan Muzaffar Wani ahead of his fourth martyrdom anniversary on July 8. APHC spokesman in a statement issued in Srinagar called for protest strike across occupied Kashmir on Wednesday to convey a message to the world particularly the United Nations that the people of Jammu and Kashmir completely reject forcible occupation of their motherland. Burhan Wani was extra-judicially killed along with two other colleagues by Indian troops in Kokernag area of Islamabad on July 8, 2016. The spokesman said that the 8th of July would be observed as Youm-e-Istiqlal [Freedom Day] to reiterate the Kashmiris’ resolve that they would continue their struggle for right to self-determination through thick and thin.

He said that after the martyrdom of Burhan Wani and his associates at the hands of Indian forces triggered massive protests against the forcible occupation of Kashmir by India. The protests followed violent actions, killings and serious human rights violations by Indian troops in the territory. He added that a flood of people with devotion and love for Burhan and other martyrs of Kashmir came to the streets of Jammu and Kashmir and a series of massive protests against the violent actions of the coercive forces of India started.

The spokesman said that the Indian rulers used brutal force for months to suppress mass protests and subjugate the freedom-loving masses. The Indian troops, he said, also used pellets and blinded hundreds of young people including innocent boys and girls.