ISLAMABAD: A teen-aged boy and a man were killed and at least 13 others were injured as Indian troops continued to pound civilian populations along the Line of Control (LoC) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) with mortar shells on Wednesday, local officials said.
A press release from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) stated that a soldier had also been martyred in the assault, while two were critically injured. “Pakistan Army aggressively responded on Indian posts,” read the release. “Response destroyed Indian posts firing on Pakistani posts/civilians. Five Indian soldiers killed, many injured. Indian guns silent due to effective engagement.”
“Unprovoked cease fire violations shall always be responded strongly, aggressive and effectively by Pakistan Army,” the director-general of the army’s media wing was quoted as saying.
According to Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Rashid Naeem Khan, Wednesday was the worst day for the Nakyal sector of Kotli district in terms of casualties. He said one person was killed and at least 10 others wounded in indiscriminate Indian shelling in Nakyal, while one person was killed and two others injured in Nezapir sector of Haveli district. The Samahni sector of southernmost Bhimber district remained relatively calm, as only one person was injured there.
A 42-year old man, Ilyas Khan, was killed after a mortar shell hit his house in the Dharoti Balakot village. The injured included Mohammad Iqbal, Kashif, Afzal, Mehboob, Haseeb, Mohammad Bashir, Ambreen Kosar, Umair Mughal, Mohammad Afzal, and Raqeeb Hussain, the DIG said.
“Reports pouring in from affected areas suggest that Indian troops are ruthlessly targeting civilian populations, causing considerable material losses as well,” DIG Khan said.
Haji Azad, a journalist based in Nakyal, said that the constant shelling was causing huge losses. “It is the heaviest shelling [so far] … they [Indian troops] have caused utter destruction,” he said.
A local police official said that police were unable to gather exact details of the losses due to constant shelling. “We have poor telecommunication service in areas along the LoC, which is why details about losses reach us quite late,” he said.
The heavily militarised LoC has been tense for quite some time and military and civilians are frequently being targeted. A day earlier, Indian forces had fired mortar shells into the Bhimber and Kotli districts of Mirpur division located in the south of AJK, as a result of which two people had died and 12 had been injured in the Samahani sector of Bhimber. On Monday, six persons were injured in Nakyal, followed by four on Tuesday. There were also unconfirmed reports that three persons were injured in the Nezapir sector of Haveli district in Poonch division.
Published in Daily Times, July 20th , 2017.
