Audacious ceasefire violations continue

MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup on Sunday said, “MEA secretary East Anil Wadhwa had lodged a protest and conveyed our anger at the unprovoked firing by Pak troops since August 08, particularly with regard to incidents of Saturday and Sunday in Poonch that saw systematic targeting of our civilian population.”

For past 24 hours 11 villages in Jammu and Kashmir’s Balakote have been under attack by Pakistani mortar shells and guns. Firing has left nine dead and 10 injured, all of them local villagers. Among the dead are a 12-year-old boy and a 40-year-old woman.  The Indian forces have been retaliating.

Firing and shelling by Pakistani troops - which started on Saturday afternoon - continued through the night. Heavy firing had started around midnight and continued till 3 am. Since morning, the Rangers have been using guns. On <g data-gr-id="42">Sunday</g> two other areas in Poonch district were targeted as well. Three villages - Shahpur, <g data-gr-id="43">Mandhar</g> and <g data-gr-id="44">Kerni</g> – have been affected. The administration has asked people of all border villages to stay indoors.

Jammu and Kashmir’s Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, who visited the injured at the hospital in Jammu today, said, “Civilians getting killed is unacceptable. The firing should stop, otherwise the (Pakistan) will face the consequences.” Pakistan, he said, was a “failed state” which was targeting civilians to “keep their morale up.”

The ceasefire violations began in Poonch and Rajouri sectors on Saturday even as Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sent his greetings to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Independence Day and called for amicable relations between the two countries.

“On several occasions issue of ceasefire violations has been raised at Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) level. Assurances were also received from Pakistan military authorities that firing will stop and their troops would be instructed accordingly. But, the firing have continued up until today,” said Swarup. “Anil Wadhwa has conveyed that the Pakistan <g data-gr-id="39">goverment</g> needed to take steps to ensure that its military does not undermine peace and tranquility along international boundary and the LoC,” he added. Also addressing media in New Delhi, Pak high commissioner Basit passed the blame on India, stating, “We are concerned about ceasefire violations. 

In the months of July and <g data-gr-id="45">August</g> there have been close to 70 ceasefire violations from this side of the LoC and the working boundary. We are obviously concerned about it.” He added, “Our side would like to have a more effective mechanism in place as to determine who indulges in these unprovoked firing.”