MUZAFFARABAD: Two Pakistani civilians and a soldier were martyred and at least 15 people, including two soldiers, injured as Indian troops continued shelling villages in Azad Jammu and Kashmir from across the Line of Control (LoC) on Wednesday.

According to civilian and military officials, the indiscriminate Indian shelling left a man dead and 10 others wounded in the Nakyal sector in Kotli district. A teenage lost his life and two others suffered injuries in the Nezapir sector in Haveli district. One person was wounded in Bhimber district’s Samahni sector.

In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the unprovoked firing targeted not only the Pakistan Army posts but also innocent civil population [in AJK]. “A soldier embraced Shahadat and two were critically injured,” the ISPR said, without mentioning the area where the military casualties took place.

Pakistan Army says five Indian soldiers were killed, posts destroyed

It said the army “aggressively responded”, destroying Indian posts which were targeting the Pakistani posts and civilian population. “Five Indian soldiers [were] killed [and] many injured… Indian guns [fell] silent due to effective engagement [by the Pakistan Army],” it added.

“Unprovoked ceasefire violations shall always be responded strongly, aggressive and effectively by Pakistan Army,” the ISPR statement quoted its chief Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor as saying.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Rashid Naeem Khan told Dawn that 42-year-old Ilyas lost his life when a shell hit his house in Dharoti Balakot village of Nakyal.

Those injured in the Indian shelling in the Nakyal sector were identifies as Mohammad Iqbal, 52, of Jandrot, Kashif, 16, of Mohra, Afzal, 33, Mehboob, 52, and Haseeb, 11, of Gimb Bala, Mohammad Bashir, 61, of Thandi Kassi, Ambreen Kosar, 13, of Nara Mohra, Umair Mughal, 6, of Gimb, Mohammad Afzal, 62, of Balakot, and Raqeeb Hussain, 27, of Nara.

In the Samahni sector, Karamatullah, 32, was injured in Haripur village.

“Reports pouring in from the affected areas suggest that the Indian troops are ruthlessly targeting civilian population, causing considerable material losses as well,” the DIG said.

Haji Azad, a Nakyal-based journalist, told Dawn that the shelling had caused huge losses. “It has been the heaviest shelling [so far]… they [Indian troops] have caused utter destruction,” he said.

A local police official said that since shelling was continuing, police were unable to gather exact details about the losses. “We have poor telecommunication service in most of the areas along the LoC that is why details about losses reach us quite late.”

In the Nezapir sector, shelling started at about 11.3am, leaving three boys — Sajad, 14, Wasim, 13, and Rafaqat, 16 — wounded in Nallah Dhok (high altitude grassland) near Kairni village.

According to Haveli’s Super­intendent of Police Arshad Naqvi, the victims were evacuated to the Military Dressing Station in Kahuta with great amount of difficulty, where Sajad succumbed to his injuries.

There were reports that some casualties also took place in Leepa valley, which the army refers to as the Kayani sector.

APP adds: Pakistan on Wednesday summoned the Indian deputy high commissioner in Islamabad and condemned unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces in Baroh and Tandar sectors a day earlier, which left a woman and a man dead and six others injured.

The Foreign Office’s director general (SA & Saarc) said the deliberate targeting of civilians was deplorable, contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws, according to a press release.

He urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire agreement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire in letter and spirit and maintain peace on LoC.

The director general also asked India to permit the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2017