ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government on Friday protested to India over the death of its soldier in the latest incident of cross-border shelling and asked Delhi to restrain its troops.

“The Government of Pakistan, today, has lodged protest with the Government of India through diplomatic channels over the unprovoked firing and mortar shelling by the Indian forces in Pandu Sector across the Line of Control, yesterday, in which a soldier of Pakistan Army, Sepoy Zahid Ali, embraced shahadat due to multiple mortar splinter injuries,” a Foreign Office statement said.

The Pakistan Army had earlier said that Indian troops on Thursday resorted to unprovoked firing on LoC near Muzaffarabad resulting in death of a soldier.

The FO statement said: “Condemning the incident, Pakistan called upon India to restrain its security forces from unprovoked firing and shelling across the LoC and the Working Boundary.”

The soldier’s death was the first military casualty for Pakistan since the upsurge in ceasefire violations in October.

Published in Dawn, November 22th, 2014