ISLAMABAD – One person was killed and four children were left injured on Friday as Indian troops opened fire on a school van along the Line of Control (LoC).
According to ISPR, Indian troops resorted to unprovoked firing across the LoC in Nakyal sector.
“Pakistani troops effectively responded and targeted Indian posts,” ISPR added.
Initial reports suggest several students of an NGO ‘Muslim Hands International’ were onboard the van when Indian troops fired at them.
The driver, identified as Asad, was killed on the spot.
Last month, three Pakistan Army soldiers were killed during an exchange of fire with Indian security forces across the LoC, ISPR said. At least nine civilians and three soldiers were martyred, and several including women and children injured as a result of unprovoked Indian shelling at the Line of Control (LoC) on November 23.
According to police, a coaster bearing number MDAJK-3866 was heading towards Muzaffarabad from Kel when it was attacked by mortar shells fired by Indian troops near Lawat Kanari Bala, some 100 kilometres away from Muzaffarabad.
This prompted a retaliation from the Pakistan Army, and the military’s media wing also claimed to have killed at least seven Indian soldiers during the border skirmishes. The soldiers killed during the cross-border fire were identified as Captain Taimoor Ali, Havildar Mushtaq Hussain and Lance Naik Ghulam Hussain.
Tensions between two nuclear-armed neighbours frayed in the aftermath of Uri attack on a check post in Kashmir that left 18 people dead. India pointed fingers at Pakistan for the attack but Pakistan refuted the allegations. What added fuel to the fire was Indian aggression on Line of Control and claims of conducting a surgical strike inside Pakistan.
Reports of Pakistani and Indian forces engaging in tension along the Line of Control are very common. International bodies continue to push both countries to resolve their long-standing issues through dialogue.
