Two civilians injured: Indian diplomat summoned over ceasefire violations

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office Thursday summoned a senior Indian diplomat to register Pakistan’s strong protest over ceasefire violations by the Indian security forces along the Line of Control (LoC) on October 14, causing serious injuries to two civilians.

Sufiyan, 25, and Muhammad Rafaqat, 28, were seriously injured in unprovoked firing by the Indian forces in Jandrot Sector. Speaking at a weekly news conference here, Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry said the Indian occupation forces had been continuously targeting civilian populated areas along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons, reports the media.

This year, India has committed 2,530 ceasefire violations to date, resulting in the martyrdom of 19 people and serious injuries to 197 innocent civilians, he said. Condemning the targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, it was underscored that such senseless acts were in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding, and were 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 spokesperson said.

It was added that by raising tensions along the LoC and the WB, India cannot divert attention from the grave human rights situation in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJ&K).