‘Pakistan Army targeting civilian population in Poonch’

So far, there have been 71 ceasefire violations from the Indian side of the LoC and the Working Boundary.

In twin cases of ceasefire violation, Pakistan Rangers opened unprovoked fire in Pooch and RS Pora Sector on Tuesday.

“We lodged a protest, and conveyed our anger, at the unprovoked firing by Pakistani troops since August 8″ including “the systematic targeting of our civilian populations”, an Indian foreign ministry statement said after the meeting.

As the firing across the LoC continued on Sunday, the Pakistan Army said that at least three people, including two women, were injured as Indian forces shelled across the border in Pakistan’s Nikial and Goi sectors in a sheer violation of the ceasefire agreement.

Jammu: A woman was killed and five persons were injured today as Pakistani troops intensified shelling on border posts and civilian area in Poonch and Rajouri in continued ceasefire violations that have claimed six lives in two days, drawing strong protest from India.

Many civilians gathered at the site where the auto was hit, when they were hit by a second shell fired from Pakistan, injuring more than 20 of them.

Indian army spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Manish Mehta, said Pakistani troops struck Indian positions in Balakote and Poonch sectors, located approximately 200 kilometers (124 miles) southwest of the Indian-administered Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar.

“Five civilians, including a 12-year-old child, were killed in Pakistan firing and nine people were injured on Saturday”.

Both countries have blamed each other for provoking the recent exchanges, the latest of which took place near the Poonch district of Indian-administered Kashmir.

A police official in Nakial area said that villages including Daabsi, Lanjote, Datote and Dairi in Nikayal sector mostly suffered from the indiscriminate firing that had forced the dwellers to remain confined into their houses since last 48 hours. “Our troops retaliated appropriately to the firing”, he said.

National Security Advisors of India and Pakistan – Ajit Doval and Sartaj Aziz – will hold talks on terrorism-related issues for the first time on August 23.