India admits LoC violations under 'Operation Arjun'

ISLAMABAD: India has admitted ceasefire violations and targeting Pakistani civilians and security forces in border areas along the Line of Control (LoC) and Working Boundary (WB), The Times of India reported on Wednesday.

The Border Security Force (BSF) using codenamed 'Operation Arjun' targeted villagers and security forces in cross-border shelling. As part of the operation, the BSF claimed they used small, medium and area weapons, causing damages on the other side of the border and killing seven soldiers and 11 civilians.

On September 22, the Pakistan Army's Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Maj-Gen SahirShamshadMirza raised the issue of deliberate targeting of Pakistani civilians in the vicinity of working boundary with his Indian counterpart, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

The contact between the two DGMOs came after two women were martyred in unprovoked shelling by the BSF in border village in Sialkot, raising the death toll to six in Punjab.

Similarly, the Foreign Ministry also summoned the Indian high commissioner to record a strong protest over India forces' recent ceasefire violations along the working boundary that left at least six civilians dead and dozens others wounded.

In 2017 to date, Indian forces have carried out more than 872 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the WB, resulting in the killing of 40 innocent civilians and injuries to 148, compared to 382 ceasefire violations in 2016, according to the Foreign Ministry figures.

Moreover, One civilian was killed while six others were injured due to heavy shelling across the Line of Control (LoC) by Indian troops on Wednesday, said officials.

The casualties occurred in different villages of Nakyal sector in the southern Kotli district as people were getting ready for their daily work, said Waleed Anwar, assistant commissioner of the area.

"The shelling began at 7:15am and is still going on," he told media. "[The shelling] is heavy; it has restricted people indoors." A shell landed in the courtyard of a house in Balakot village, leaving 25-year-old Malick Mohammad Razaq dead on the spot, Anwar said.

The deceased's 35-year old married sister, IrumBibi, was injured after a sharpnel hit her in the face, he added.Anwar said that a 45-year-old woman from the same village, Ghulam Fatima, was also injured.

KulsoomBibi, 45, a resident of OliPanjini village and 13-year-old AhsanKarim from the DatotPatochi village, suffered wounds as well. A 40-year-old woman from the PirKlanjar village, Kalsoom and a resident of Mithrani village NasreenAkhtar, 35 were also injured in the cross-border shelling.