Pakistan lodges protest with India over unabated ceasefire violations

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) summoned a senior Indian diplomat on Tuesday to register Pakistan’s strong protest over ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control (LoC) on Monday, resulting in serious injuries to a 10-year-old boy.

In a statement, FO Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said due to indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian occupation forces in Nezapir Sectors of the LoC, a 10-year-old Muhammad Zaheer, the son of Muhammad Rafique and a resident of Mohri village, sustained serious injuries.

He said the Indian occupation forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) have been continuously targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-calibre mortars and automatic weapons. This year, India has committed 48 ceasefire violations, resulting in serious injuries to three innocent civilians.

Condemning the deplorable targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, it was underscored that such senseless acts are in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding, and are also against all established humanitarian norms and professional military conduct.

The spokesperson said these egregious violations of international law reflect consistent Indian attempts to escalate the situation 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 grave human rights situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

The Indian side was called upon 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.

The Indian side was also urged to allow the United Nations Military Observer Group (UNMOG) in India and Pakistan to play its mandated role as per the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

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