ISLAMABAD/Lahore - Indian troops shot and killed one Pakistani soldier and injured another in an ‘unprovoked’ attack across the Line of Control in Kashmir, Army said in a statement issued on Saturday.
The Pakistani army accused Indian troops of staging an ‘unprovoked’ attack across the Line of Control while the Indian army said it had fired in a ‘calibrated manner’ in response to Pakistani firing.
“A soldier embraced martyrdom while another was seriously injured due to unprovoked firing by Indian troops in Rawala Kot area at the Line of Control (LoC) on Saturday,” the army said.
According to ISPR, the Indian troops opened unprovoked firing at the LoC in Rawalakot, Nezapir sub-sector at about 10:30am in which a soldier of the Pakistan Army, Asim Iqbal, embraced Shahadat while Naik Muhammad Khan was seriously injured.
The Foreign Office also strongly condemned the unprovoked firing by Indian soldiers along the LoC.
Foreign Office spokesman, in a statement in Islamabad, said it was unfortunate that such an incident took place at a time when the two governments were making sincere efforts to improve relations for resolution of all outstanding disputes. “Pakistan calls upon India to carry out a thorough investigation into this grave incident and to ensure that such occurrences do not take place in future,” it added.
On the other hand, Indian army blamed Pakistani troops for resorting to firing across LoC first. “Pakistani troops started firing unprovoked in the morning, firing rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machinegun fire and small arms,” Indian defence spokesman Colonel RK Palta told AFP. “Our side retaliated in a calibrated manner and there were no casualties on our side,” he said. Hours later, Indian military came out with the claim that a member of their Border Secuiry Force (BSF) had been injured in one of the two incidents of ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops on Saturday, ND TV reported.