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Published 26 Dec, 2021 04:44pm

Pakistan strongly condemns extrajudicial killings of six more youth in Indian-occupied Kashmir

Pakistan on Sunday strongly condemned the extrajudicial killings of six more Kashmiris by Indian occupation forces in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

According to India Today, six Kashmiris, dubbed "militants" by Indian security forces, have been killed in four encounters in the last three days in South Kashmir.

"The extra-judicial killings of six more Kashmiri youth in IIOJK by Indian occupation forces in the last three days in continuing fake encounters and so-called cordon-and-search-operations are strongly condemned," Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said in a statement.

Read more: UN rights chief calls for major probe into Kashmir abuses

He said a 19-year-old student was martyred by Indian occupation forces with impunity in the occupied territory. "At least 18 Kashmiris have been martyred by Indian occupation forces in December so far."

The spokesperson said the occupation army had intensified arbitrary detentions, night raids, coercion, harassment and humiliation of Kashmiris, as well as extra-judicial killings in staged encounters while the cordon-and-search operations continue unabated.

He recalled the burial of the last remains of martyrs at unknown locations since April last year without the consent and presence of their families, terming it yet another abhorrent manifestation of the callous behaviour and moral bankruptcy of BJP-RSS together.

"India should be well aware that no amount of oppression and use of force could break the will of the valiant Kashmiri people who were resolutely standing up against India's state-terrorism in IIOJK and struggling for their inalienable right to self-determination as enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions," the spokesperson noted.

Also read: Pakistan welcomes UN report on rights abuses in held Kashmir

He reiterated Pakistan's call to the international community to hold India accountable for its grave and systematic violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in IIOJK.

"The violations must be investigated by an independent Commission of Inquiry as recommended by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in its reports of 2018 and 2019," he added.

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