Pakistan lodges protest with India over ceasefire violations

ISLAMABAD : The Foreign Office (FO) on Saturday summoned a senior Indian diplomat to register Pakistan’s strong protest over the ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control (LoC) on 17th of July, resulting in serious injuries to two innocent women. In a statement, the FO said that due to indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian occupation forces in Rakhchikri and Baroh sectors of the LoC, 35 year old Shakeela Bibi w/o Khursheed and 40 year old Nazia Bibi w/o Mazhar Iqbal sustained serious injuries. FO Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said that the Indian forces along the LoC and the working boundary have been continuously targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons. This year, India has committed 1697 ceasefire violations to date, resulting in 14 martyrdoms and serious injuries to 133 innocent civilians, she added. Condemning the deplorable targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, the spokesperson underscored that such senseless acts are in clear violation of the 2003 ceasefire understanding, and are 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.” It was added that by raising tensions along the LoC and the working boundary, India cannot divert attention from the grave human rights situation in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K). 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 working boundry. The Indian side was also urged to allow the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.