Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday summoned a senior Indian diplomat to register Pakistan’s strong protest over the ceasefire violations by Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control (LoC) on 30th September, resulting in serious injuries to one innocent civilian.
In a statement, FO spokesperson Zahid Hafeez said that due to indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian occupation forces in Jandrot Sector of the LoC, Kalsum Begum, 65, resident of Kathar village, sustained serious injuries.
He said that 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. The spokesperson said that this year, India has committed 2404 ceasefire violations to date, resulting in 19 martyrdoms and serious injuries to 192 innocent civilians.
Condemning the deplorable targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, he 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.
Zahid Hafeez said that 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. He added that by raising tensions along the LoC and the WB, India cannot divert attention from the grave human rights situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK).
The spokesperson said that 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 added.
