Pakistan lodges strong protest with Indian over targeting civilians across LoC

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

Due to indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian occupation forces in the Rakhchikri sector, two women Roqaya Begum, 45, resident of Village Naban and Sarwar Bibi, 60, resident of Village Kirni, sustained serious injuries.

"Condemning the deplorable targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, it was underscored that such senseless acts are a violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding between the two sides, and are against all established humanitarian norms and professional military conduct," the Foreign Office said in a statement issued here.

The statement added that Indian occupation forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) continuously targeted civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons, and this year alone, it committed 913 ceasefire violations.

"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 said.

It was stressed that by raising tensions along the LoC and the WB, India could not divert attention from the grave human rights situation in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K).

The 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.