Woman injured in Poonch sector as Indo-Pak armies trade fire
Pak summons Indian diplomat over 'ceasefire violations'
Srinagar/Islamabad: A woman sustained multiple injuries in cross-LoC shelling in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir late Friday evening.
Officials said that Pakistani army resorted to unprovoked firing and shelling in Balakote area along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district.
They said that a 35-year-old Mianaz Akhter wife of Nasar Ahmed, a resident of Panjani Balakote got injured in the shelling.
Pakistan army continued “ceasefire violations” for the second consecutive day on Friday by resorting to heavy firing and mortar shelling in forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district, officials said.
“Indian Army retaliated befittingly to the Pakistani aggression,” they added.
“At about 1630 hours today, Pakistan army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and intense shelling with mortars along the LoC in Balakote sector,” a defence spokesman said.
On Thursday, an Indian Army soldier was injured in Pakistani firing in Balakote sector.
An army personnel was killed and two others, including an officer, injured on Tuesday as Pakistani troops violated ceasefire by using heavy fire and mortar shells along the LoC in Sunderbani sector of Rajouri district, according to officials.
On September 02, a JCO was killed in ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the LoC in Keri sector of Rajouri.
Meanwhile defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said in Srinagar that “Pakistan initiated an unprovoked ceasefire violation along the LoC at Kanzalwan in Gurez sector today morning by firing mortars and other weapons.”
There were no reports of any casualties so far, he said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan on Friday summoned a senior diplomat from the Indian High Commission here to register its protest over the alleged ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC).
The Foreign Office in a statement said that Indian forces resorted to “indiscriminate and unprovoked firing” in the Hotspring and Jandrot sectors on Thursday, resulting in serious injuries to 15-year-old Irum Riaz; 26-year-old Nusrat Kausar and 16-year-old Mukheel of Andrala Nar village.
The Indian forces “along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) have been continuously targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons,” it alleged.
It claimed that 18 people had died and 183 been injured in 2,280 ceasefire violations this year.
“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,” the Foreign Office said.
