Pakistan lodges strong protest with Indian over LoC ceasefire violation

ISLAMABAD - A senior Indian diplomat on Wednesday was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to register Pakistan's strong protest over the ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control (LoC) on July 28, resulting in serious injuries to three innocent civilians.

Due to indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian occupation forces in Rakhchikri Sector of the LoC, Farida Bibi w/o Muhammad Nazeer; Alam Bibi w/o Akram Hussain; and Safeer s/o Noor Din, residents of Village Akhori, sustained serious injuries, the Foreign office spokesperson in a press release said.

"Condemning the deplorable targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, it was 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," it added.

These egregious violations of international law reflected consistent Indian attempts to escalate the situation along the LoC and were 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 Illegal Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&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 WB. 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," the spokesperson further said.

The Indian occupation 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.

This year, India has committed 1823 ceasefire violations to date, resulting in shahadat of 14 innocent civilians and serious injuries to 138 others.