Two injured as Indian troops fire at LoC in presence of UN observers

ABBASPUR: Three members of the United Nations Military Observers Mission for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) had a close call along the restive Line of Control (LoC) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday after Indian troops shot at and injured two locals who were briefing them on the situation prevailing in the wake of ceasefire violations, officials and residents said.

The incident occurred at noon in Abbaspur sector of Poonch district where the UN observers had reached in two white vehicles hoisting blue UN flags, Qazi Arslan, a police official in Abbaspur, said.

“The UN observers were interacting with local people in Polas village when suddenly Indian troops resorted to burst firing from across the dividing line located hardly one kilometre away from there,” the official said.

The firing left two people — identified as Sardar Saghir and Muhammad Azam Qureshi of Polas and its neighbouring Taroti village, respectively — critically injured. “It was yet another incident of targeted firing which has become a hallmark of Indian troops manning the bloody dividing line,” said Chaudhry Saqib Mushtaq, a civil society activist in the area. Political leaders also condemned the incident.

Arslan said the UN observers barely saved their lives and rushed to Abbaspur to inquire about the condition of the firing victims who had been evacuated to a health facility by other people. As the news spread in Abbaspur, people took to streets to condemn the incident. Some of the demonstrators took strong exception to the UN observers “abandoning the firing victims” instead of removing them to the health facility in their vehicles.

However, police official Arslan said the UN observers themselves were in a state of shock, as they did not expect firing from the Indian side in their presence. He quoted them as saying that they had already passed a ‘hotline message’to the Indian authorities regarding their visit to the LoC in this sector. Arslan said as the injured persons were shifted to Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahayan Hospital Rawalakot, the UN observers also left for the district headquarters of Poonch to record their statements.

Saira Yousuf, an Abbaspur-based journalist, appreciated the UN observers for rushing to the health facility in Abbaspur and then to Rawalakot to inquire about the health and record statements of the victims. However, she added, as an institution the UN did come under scathing criticism for its “failure to address the root cause of the problem haunting the Kashmiris since a long time”.

Civil society activist Mushtaq said most of the demonstrators chanted anti-India slogans and called upon the UN and the government of Pakistan to “take urgent measures for their protection amid constant threat to their lives and properties at the hands of trigger-happy Indian soldiers.” “There were unanimous calls that the UN Security Council session should be convened to discuss the situation along the LoC,” he said.

“This incident should also serve as an eye-opener for the UN because today they have seen for themselves how brazenly Indian troops target the civilians without any provocation,” he added.