ISLAMABAD: An elderly man was killed in Kotli district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir as ceasefire violations at the Line of Control (LoC) continued on Thursday, officials said.
“Splinters of a mortar shell hit 70-year-old Nazeer Hussain in Dheri village, leaving him dead on the spot,” Assistant Commissioner Nakyal Waleed Anwar said, adding that Indian troops fired volleys of mortar shells at the civilian population, especially targeting educational institutions where elementary board exams are being held since Tuesday. “Exams have been cancelled in most vulnerable schools due to targeted shelling from across the divide,” he said.
Shelling also took place in Battal sector of Poonch district but no casualty was reported. The Foreign Office, meanwhile, summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh to lodge protest over the ceasefire violation. A statement issued by the FO said Indian forces had committed more than 400 ceasefire violations since the start of 2018, killing 19 civilians and injuring 69 others through the use of heavy mortars and automatic weapons. “The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation,” the statement warned.
Published in Daily Times, March 2nd 2018.
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