Retaliatory firing kills three Indian soldiers
RAWALPINDI: Four soldiers of Pakistan Army were martyred when Indian forces opened unprovoked fire across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir Monday morning.
According to the army’s media wing, ISPR, the soldiers were working on lines communication maintenance in the Jandrot and Kotli sectors of Azad Jammu and Kashmir when they were attacked with heavy mortar round. The firing left all four soldiers dead. According to the ISPR, the Pakistan Army responded to the attack and killed three Indian soldiers and injured many others. The latest incident of cross-border firing comes days after Indian Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat threatened to call Pakistan’s “nuclear bluff” in a statement regarded as reckless and irresponsible by Pakistani leadership.
Pakistan on Monday summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh and lodged formal protest over the recent unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian forces, which martyred four soldiers, the foreign ministry said.
A foreign ministry statement said the Indian forces “used heavy mortars” on 15 January 2018 along the Line of Control (LoC) in Azad Kashmir in Jandrot sub sector of Kotli Sector resulting in the ‘shahadat’ of 4 Pakistani soldiers, while injuring 5 others.
Pakistan and India had declared ceasefire along the LoC and Working Boundary in 2003. However, India forces are involved in ceasefire violations. “Despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations. In 2018, the Indian forces have carried out more than 100 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary in just 15 days,” a foreign ministry statement said.
“This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed more than 1900 ceasefire violations,” it further said.
“The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation,” according to the foreign ministry.
The Director General urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement; investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary.
He urged the Indian side should permit UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions. NNI
