RAWALPINDI - Pakistan Army on Thursday killed five Indian soldiers along the Line of Control (LoC) in Tatta Pani sector, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
The retaliation by the Army comes after Indian forces opened fire on a school van earlier on Thursday and martyred its driver.
In the action taken by Pakistani troops, the Indian post along the LoC was also destroyed and many other Indian soldiers were injured, added ISPR.
"Indian terrorism against innocent citizens shall be responded befittingly."
Death of the van driver was condemned by the Army spokesman.
Army spokesman Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor said Indian forces in an "unethical and unprofessional" move attacked the school van in Battal village in Azad Kashmir. He said it was a violation of international norms on the part of India.
Haleema Shaheen, a tearful college student, said she was inside the van when bullets struck the vehicle. She told reporters that van driver Sarfaraz Ahmed was killed but all the students escaped unhurt.
She said, “We all started screaming and there was no one to help us. People gathered there after a long time,” she added.
The student of Government Degree College told that the incident took place in the sector, adding that they were heading from Dharamsal to Battal sector.
On Thursday, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry summoned Indian diplomat JP Singh and lodged a protest with India for deliberately targeting the school van, killing the driver and leaving the schoolchildren severely traumatized.
"The deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws. The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation," the Foreign Office stated.
Dr Mohammad Faisal urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement and investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations.
He also instructed the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary.
Also on Thursday, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi strongly condemned targeting of the school van by Indian forces across the Line of Control.
In a statement, the prime minister said such unprovoked and unethical acts had exposed the real face of India, which continues to violate Geneva Convention by targeting innocent schoolchildren.
Raja Muhammad Farooq Haider, the prime minister of Azad Kashmir, denounced the attack and called on the United Nations and world leaders to help resolve the Kashmir issue.
India was targeting the civilian living along the LoC and the United Nations should take notice of such criminal activities, he said while talking to a private news channel.
The UN military observers should take action and control the barbaric activities of Indian forces along the LoC, he said.
Pakistan should also highlight the issue of civilian killing along the border at the forum of UN, he said. The AJK PM urged the international community to pressurize India for resolving the issue of Kashmir, pending since long between the two countries, he said.
