Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: A three-member team of United Nations (UN) observers visited border villages in Sucheetgarh and Charwah sectors on the Working Boundary near Sialkot on Saturday to review damages caused by Indian firing at the border. Punjab Rangers spokesman Major Waheed Bukhari told Radio Pakistan that the UN team assessed the damages and losses caused by unprovoked firing by the Indian forces in the area on Friday. At least eight Pakistanis were killed and several others wounded on Friday during an exchange of fire between Indian and Pakistani border troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir and Working Boundary in Sialkot’s Charwah, Harpal, Chaprar and Sucheetgarh sectors. According to DCO Dr Asif Tufail, the UN observes met the victims of Indian shelling and sought details from them about the recent spells of heavy shelling. The team met witnesses and gathered information about the casualties and damages to property due to recent Indian hostility on the Working Boundary. The people told the UN observers that the Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) targeted the civilian population when the villagers were sleeping on the rooftops and in the courtyards of their houses. The other day, the UN observers had visited Thathi Khurd village in Sucheetgarh and met locals affected by Indian shelling. During that visit, they had sought details from them about fresh hostilities on part of the BSF personnel. It may be mentioned here that following the firing, the Foreign Office summoned Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan TCA Raghavan and lodged a strong protest with him “over continued violations” by the BSF across the LoC and the Working Boundary. Raghavan was told that India had to honour the ceasefire agreement of 2003 between the two countries.