Five civilians and a Pakistan Army soldier were
martyred on Friday in ‘unprovoked and indiscriminate’ firing by Indian troops
from across the restive Line of Control (LoC) in several areas of Azad Jammu
and Kashmir (AJK), civil and military officials said. At least 30 other
civilians and five soldiers also sustained injuries in the ceasefire violations
in what appeared to be the biggest escalation in hostilities on the de facto
border in months.
India also
suffered ‘substantial losses’ in terms of troops and material in Pakistan
Army's "befitting reply" to the firing; according to an
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement. A report by The
Hindu newspaper said 10 people;
including six civilians, three army soldiers and one Border Security Force
(BSF) soldier; were killed and more than 20 others injured in firing by
Pakistani troops in four districts of Indian-occupied Kashmir. The chairman of
the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir, Shehryar Khan Afridi; shared a video of
the aftermath of the Indian firing. ‘Indian coward army is targeting civilian
population across the LoC! Targeting civilians is a WAR CRIME!!’ he tweeted. Giving background of the latest flare-up, the
ISPR said on the night of November 7-8; the Indian army reportedly had an ‘encounter'
with a few freedom fighters in Kupwara district; ‘well within’ occupied Jammu
and Kashmir's territory, opposite Neelum Valley in AJK. During the clash,
Indian troops suffered some casualties including four soldiers. ‘To ward off
the humiliation faced by Indian Army in front of domestic audience; instead of
finding the reasons from within and addressing the same; on November 13; 2020,
Indian Army opted for resorting to unprovoked and indiscriminate fire of all
calibres; including artillery and heavy mortars, along (the) LoC in various
sectors of AJK," the statement added. The areas targeted by Indian troops
included Neelum Valley (Nekrun, Kel; Sharda; Dudhnial; Shahkot; Jura; Nauseri
sectors); Leepa Valley (Danna; Mandal and Kayani sectors), Jhelum Valley (Chham
and Pandu sectors); and Bagh Valley (Pirkanthi, Sankh; Haji Pir, Bedori and
Kailer sectors). Besides engaging with Pakistan Army posts and positions;
Indian troops also targeted the civilian population along the LoC ‘in utter
disregard to all international obligations and human rights’; leaving four
people dead and 12 others injured. Local officials later provided increased
figures. ‘In response to this provocative act, Pakistan Army gave a befitting
reply to the Indian Army, and effectively targeted those Indian posts which
engaged innocent civilians;’ the press release added. It said "substantial
losses, both in terms of men and material, have been incurred on to Indian
troops’ that had also been accepted by Indian media. India's confirmed losses
are "much more than being acknowledged’; it added. During the exchange of
fire; a Pakistan Army soldier was martyred; while five others were injured. ‘Such
cowardly acts of targeting innocent civilians reflect sheer lack of morality,
utter un-professionalism and total disregard [of] human rights by the Indian
Army and are also [a] clear violation of [the] ceasefire understanding of 2003;’
the military's media wing stated. It reiterated that ‘Pakistan is a
peace-loving country and [the] Pakistan Army pursue the same aspirations.’ ‘However;
we stand committed to defend the motherland and our Kashmiri brethren even at
the cost of our blood and lives;’ it said, adding that "all such
provocative acts shall continue to be responded in the same coin.’ “Heaviest
ever shelling” Friday's
casualties, 90 per cent of which occurred in Neelum Valley and the rest in
Nauseri sector in Muzaffarabad district and Reshian area of Leepa Valley; were
reminiscent of the losses in the last week of July 2019 in the same areas when
the Indian army had used banned cluster ammunition. According to Syed Shahid
Mohyiddin Qadri, AJK’s secretary civil defence and disaster management, Indian
troops simultaneously started shelling in Neelum and Leepa valleys and then
expanded its range to Nauseri sector of Muzaffarabad, beyond which the
picturesque Neelum Valley begins. ‘It was the heaviest ever shelling in the
Neelum Valley, resembling last year’s carpet bombing of the valley’s civilian
populated areas;’ he told Dawn. Raja Mahmood Shahid, deputy commissioner
of Neelum, said the shelling left four civilians dead in the upper and lower
belts of his district. He identified the deceased as Fayyaz Ahmed, 38, in
Dudhniyal; Shoaib; 22, in Falakan; Pervez, 40, in Lala; and Sajida, 16, in
Karimabad. Two year old Adeeb Sudhir from Lala also died due to the shelling, a
senior official at Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Muzaffarabad said. At least
25 other civilians, including women and children, were injured in Neelum Valley;
some of them critically; according to DC Shahid. He said at least 15 houses,
some multi-storeyed, and a shop were burnt to ashes while 24 houses and a
private guesthouse were partially damaged in different parts of the valley.
Some 20 cattle heads and eight goats also perished in the shelling, according
to initial reports. Video clips posted on social media by villagers as well as
some tourists showed huge flames engulfing wooden houses, amid screams of their
residents watching the scene helplessly from some distance. In Nauseri sector
of Muzaffarabad district, three other civilians were injured in Kanoor village
and a man was injured in Panjkot village; according to Muzaffarabad Deputy
Commissioner Abdul Hameed Kiani. Qadri said Leepa Valley and Chamm and Pandu
sectors of Jhelum Valley district also faced heavy Indian shelling but no
casualties were reported there. However; he said; one civilian was injured in
Reshian, which is the last village of tehsil Hattian Bala en route Leepa
Valley. According to Qadri; shelling had stopped by the evening "but an
air of uncertainty prevails in the affected areas’.
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