Pakistani teenager martyred as India fires across LoC

RAWALPINDI - A teenage boy was martyred while his younger sibling was left critically injured in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Thursday after Indian troops resorted to unprovoked firing from across the Line of Control (LoC).

A police official in Forward Kahuta, Zubair Gillani said the incident took place in Akhori village situated in closest proximity to the LoC in Nezapir sector of Haveli district.

The deceased was identified as 15-years-old Tahir while the injured is 12-year-old.

According to Muhammad Zaheer, district disaster management officer in Haveli, Indian troops violated ceasefire at about 7am till 10:30 am using small arms and mortar shells.

The boy was hit by shrapnel on his chest and died on the spot, while the girl was critically injured after a splinter passed through her head causing her a brain injury, he added.

The officer said the injured girl was initially brought to a military-run health facility in district headquarters Forward Kahuta, from where she was referred to Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahayan Hospital Rawalakot in the neighbouring Poonch district.

Following the incident, AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, grieved the loss of Kashmiri lives at the hands of "Indian troops on both sides" of the divide.

Though ceasefire violations at the heavily militarised LoC have been a frequent occurrence, tensions flared up between India and Pakistan after the attack on an Indian army convoy in Pulwama area of Indian occupied Kashmir in which over 40 soldiers were left dead.

New Delhi pinned blame on Pakistan for having played a part in the horrific attack, however, Islamabad denied the allegations and offered full support in investigations.

Pakistan and India also engaged in an aerial dogfight in February in which Pakistan shot down two Indian aircraft while capturing a pilot alive who was released later as a gesture of goodwill.