ISLAMABAD: A senior Indian diplomat has been summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday to register Pakistan’s strong protest over ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control (LoC) on Thursday, resulting in serious injuries to three innocent civilians.

The Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement that the indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian occupation forces in Hotspring and Jandrot Sectors of the LoC had resulted in serious injuries to 15-year-old Irum Riaz s/o Muhammad Riaz; 26-year-old Nusrat Kausar w/o Abdul Rauf; and 16-year-old Mukheel s/o Muhammad Hussain who are residents of Andrala Nar Village.

It read, “The Indian occupation forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) have been continuously targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons. This year, India has committed 2280 ceasefire violations to date, resulting in 18 shahadats and serious injuries to 183 innocent civilians.”

The FO strongly condemned the deplorable targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces and it was underscored that such senseless acts are in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding.

“The ceasefire violations are also against all established humanitarian norms and professional military conduct. 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.”

It was said that India cannot divert attention from the grave human rights situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK) by raising tensions along the LoC and the WB.

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 in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions. NNI