ISLAMABAD - In a blatant violation of the Geneva Convention and international laws, the Indian army has resorted to barbaric and inhuman tactics as it has used cluster munitions along the Line of Control (LoC) to target the civilian population, Pakistani military said Saturday.

The Indian army earlier this week used cluster ammunition to target the civilian population in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) across the LoC in violation of the Geneva Convention and international laws, Pakistan military’s media wing; the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) directorate said.

According to the statement released by the ISPR, as a result of the bombardment by cluster munitions, at least two civilians including a four-year-old boy were martyred and 11 were injured. The attack took place on the night of July 30/31.

The directorate said Indian army uses cluster ammunition along LoC deliberately targeting civilian population. “This is a violation of the Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law,” the military’s media wing said. Indian army on the night of July 30th/31st targeted innocent citizens including women and children in Neelum Valley through artillery using cluster ammunition.

The statement further said that because of severe impact on non-combatants, use of cluster ammunition is prohibited under Convention on Cluster Ammunition. This blatant Indian aggression against all international norms exposes the true character of the Indian army and their moral standing, it added. It further said that it’s time for the international community to take notice of this Indian blatant violation of international laws on the use of cluster ammunition targeting innocent citizens.

Director General ISPR, Major General Asif Ghafoor has said that no weapon can suppress the determination of

Kashmiris to get their right of self-determination.

Condemning the use of cluster bombs by Indian army as violation of international conventions, he said Kashmir runs in the blood of every Pakistani. He expressed the hope that indigenous freedom struggle of Kashmiris shall succeed.

A cluster munition is either an air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases smaller submunitions. The explosive bomblets are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehicles. Because of severe impact on non-combatants, use of cluster ammunition is prohibited under Convention on Cluster Ammunition. Dropped from planes or fired from artillery, cluster bombs explode in mid-air, scattering bomblets, with many civilians getting killed or maimed by their indiscriminate, wide-area effect.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, cluster munitions kill and injure large numbers of civilians and cause long-lasting socio-economic problems. The 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions prohibits the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions and requires states to ensure that they claim no further victims.

According to the Pakistani officials, the total number of ceasefire violations by Indian in 2019 stands at 1,824 with 17 people martyred and 105 civilians injured. Days earlier, the military’s spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor had said that the increased ceasefire violations by Indian forces along the LoC indicate their frustration over their failures in Indian-occupied Kashmir.

The ISPR statement comes a day after the AJK government warned people, particularly those living along the LoC, against touching or picking any familiar and unfamiliar devices or gadgets if found lying anywhere in the shelling-infested areas to avoid any danger to their lives. Previously, a number of casualties had also occurred when LoC residents, mostly young children, had tried to play or tamper with dud shells out of ignorance.

ARMY REJECTS INDIA’S ACCUSATIONS

Pakistan Army on Saturday rejected Indian accusations of a cross-Line of Control (LoC) incursion and resultant casualties.

Earlier in the day, the Indian Army had claimed it had “successfully foiled” a ‘border action team’ (BAT) operation by the Pakistan Army in the Keran sector of Jammu and Kashmir, according to Times of India.

The ISPR, in a statement issued late Saturday, dismissed the above statement as mere propaganda meant to deflect from atrocities in occupied Kashmir.

The statement read, “Indian allegations of cross LOC action by Pakistan and possession of bodies are mere propaganda. Such blatant lies/staged dramas are Indian disinformation manoeuvre to divert world attention from increased atrocities by Indian occupation forces inside the occupied Kashmir.”