TATTA PANI: Two teenagers were killed and one other was injured in Azad Jammu and Kashmir when Indian troops resorted to “unprovoked” shelling across the Line of Control (LoC) early Monday morning, a senior official said.
The casualties occurred in Tatta Pani sector of southern Kotli district where shelling began after 5:45 am, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Chaudhry Zulqarnain Sarfraz said.
“Indian troops started [shelling] without any provocation, and also targeted the civilian populations,” the SSP told .
He added that Asad, 18, died after being hit by the splinters of a shell in Bhabra village whereas Waqar, 18, was critically injured and later succumbed to his injuries at DHQ Kotli.
Another teenager, Shabaz, 17 was critically injured in Hillan village, he added.
“The shelling has stopped now, but who knows when they (Indians) will resume it again,” the SSP said.
A Tatta Pani based journalist told this correspondent by telephone that Indian shelling was “intense” but Pakistani troops “effectively” responded to it.
“In fact Indian guns fell silent after a befitting response from our troops,” said Sardar Mohammad Javed.
An elderly resident of AJK was killed in cross-LoC firing, last week.
Shabbir Khan, in his late sixties, was doing some household work in the courtyard of his house when Indian troops hit him with a burst of fire.
Since January, India has committed more than 400 ceasefire violations along the LoC, leaving several civilians dead or wounded and surpassing last year’s total of 382, officials say.
The deaths have pushed the death toll in Indian shelling to 11 since January, while over 65 have sustained injuries.
Incidents of cross-border firing have become a norm since the last months of 2016 as tensions simmer between Pakistan and India over the Kashmir issue.
Following the Uri army base attack in September, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped up a drive to ‘isolate’ Pakistan diplomatically.
In the days following the attack, India claimed to have conducted a cross-border ‘surgical strike’ against ‘launch pads of terror’ in Azad Jammu and Kashmir — a claim Pakistan strongly rejected.
Pakistan maintains that India has been attempting to divert the world’s attention away from atrocities committed by government forces in India-held Kashmir.
Tensions between the two countries soared recently as India approached the International Court of Justice to secure consular access for Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Field General Court Martial (FGCM) in Pakistan over his involvement in espionage and terrorism.
In a hearing of the case on May 18, a 10-member bench at The Hague restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav, who India claims is a retired naval officer.