3 injured in AJK due to 'unprovoked' firing by Indian forces across LoC

Two men and a woman were injured in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Saturday as Indian troops resorted to "unprovoked" ceasefire violations from across the restive line of control (LoC), officials said.

The ceasefire violations occurred on India’s Republic Day which was observed by the Kashmiris on both sides of the divide as ‘Black Day’.

Indian troops targeted civilian population with mortar, machine-gun and small arms fire in Tattapani Goi sector of Kotli district, said Kotli Deputy Commissioner Dr Umer Azam.

“They [Indian troops] started firing at around 2pm. It was intense and continued till 7pm, with civilian population being the primary target,” he told Dawn by telephone.

“As a result, a woman and two men were injured,” he added. The victims have been identified as Muhammad Sharif, 55, Muhammad Shafi, 60, of Kanait village and Sadia Nazarat, 24, of Batali village.

The house of Sadia Nazarat was also damaged after being hit by a mortar shell, the deputy commissioner said.

Azam said the injured had been evacuated to District Headquarters Hospital Kotli, where their condition was out of danger.

Earlier on Wednesday, two men and a woman were injured by Indian shelling in Sandara Nakyal and Batali villages of the same sector.

Meanwhile, AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider strongly condemned the unprovoked Indian firing in Goi sector, saying that AJK’s civilian population was being targeted under a well thought out policy of Narendra Modi government to divert world attention from its savagery unleashed in occupied Kashmir.

Haider called upon the United Nations and other global organisations and institutions to take stock of the situation and press India to honour her commitments about the UN resolutions on Kashmir.