Pakistan said on Saturday any “misadventure” by the India Army at the Line of Control could lead to “unintended consequences” as the two neighbours accused each other of violating a fragile ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.
While New Delhi said two civilians – a father and daughter – were killed in Rajouri district in Jammu by mortars fire by Pakistan, Islamabad said “three to eight” people were killed on its territory in shelling by Indian troops.
Pakistan also summoned India’s deputy high commissioner JP Singh to protest the firing by Indian forces along the LoC, the foreign office said in a statement.
“(The) Indian army has been targeting innocent civilians on both sides of line of Control in recent past. Any misadventure by Indian Army across Line of Control will be a miscalculation, shall be responded with full force and could lead to unintended consequences,” the Pakistani army’s media arm said in a statement.
Local media reported that as many as eight people, including five women, were injured in Azad Jammu and Kashmir in Indian shelling.
{{/usCountry}}Local media reported that as many as eight people, including five women, were injured in Azad Jammu and Kashmir in Indian shelling.
{{/usCountry}}The statement added Pakistani troops effectively tackled the Indian aggression.
“Indian troops resumed shelling at 7am without any provocation, targeting the civilian populations,” Chaudhry Zulqarnain Sarfraz, senior superintendent of police (SSP) in Kotli district was quoted by a local newspaper.
“The shelling had been intense and indiscriminate for about one and a half hours, but it has stopped now,” he said.
In a related development, Pakistan Army chief general Qamar Javed Bajwa visited different sectors along the LOC on Saturday.
The deputy high commissioner was handed over a communique, stating that the ceasefire violations must be stopped forthwith. “India must bring an end to incidents of unprovoked firing,” it said.
Earlier on Thursday, one person was killed and ten others wounded in Kotli and Bhimber districts in Indian shelling. One of the injured persons – an elderly woman – succumbed to her wounds on Friday.
An Indian military spokesman said the father and daughter were killed by Pakistani army fire, and three of their relatives were wounded.
A mortar bomb hit a home in an Indian village near the LoC inflicting the casualties, army spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Manish Mehta said.
Mehta said Pakistani troops began firing weapons from small arms to mortars in the Nowshera sector of Kashmir, prompting a retaliation by Indian forces.
India and Pakistan often accuse each other of initiating the cross-border shelling that has killed hundreds of civilians over the years.
Clashes between their forces in Kashmir largely stopped after a 2003 ceasefire but exchanges of fire have been more common over the past couple of years.
(With agency inputs)