ISLAMABAD               -               Pakistan on Monday summoned Indian Charge d’Affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia to lodge a strong protest against India’s ceasefire violations along the Line of Control which resulted in civilian casualties.

Director General South Asia Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri summoned the Indian CdA to register Pakistan’s strong protest over the ceasefire violations by Indian occupation forces in Dhudnial, Rakhchikri, Chirikot and Baroh Sectors on 12 April, resulting in the death of a child and serious injuries to four civilians.

Due to the indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian forces, a two-year old child Muhammad Haseeb (s/o Muhammad Yousaf) embraced shahadat in Dhudnial Sector. In Rakhchikri Sector, two innocent civilians, 26-year-old Waqar Shah (s/o Sadaqat Shah) and 72-year-old Muhammad Sharif (s/o Channan Din) suffered critical injuries. In Chirikot Sector, 17 years old Tipu s/o Maruf, and in Baroh Sector, 25 years old Zareena w/o Riaz Hussain, sustained serious injuries, said a foreign ministry statement.

“The Indian occupation forces along LoC and the Working Boundary have continuously been targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons.

This year, India has so far committed 749 ceasefire violations,” said the statement.

Condemning the targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, the DG underscored that such senseless Indian acts, in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding and complete disregard for international human rights and international norms, further vitiate the tense atmosphere 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 worsening human rights situation in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

The DG called upon the Indian side 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.

He urged that India should permit the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan to play its mandated role as per the United Nations Security Council Resolutions, the statement added.