Indian firing kills 2 Pakistani women, injures 6 people

The Pakistani military said late Tuesday that at least two women were killed and six other injured in Indian forces' firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir region.

"Indian troops resorted to unprovoked firing with artillery, heavy mortars and automatic weapons along the LoC, targeting innocent civil population of villages Naukot and Qaiser Kot in Lipa Valley," an army statement said.

"Pakistan army troops effectively engaged Indian troops and destroyed 4 Indian posts causing heavy damage," the statement from the army's media wing the Inter-Services Public Relations said.

"Two Pakistani citizens Sumaira Younis and Maryam were martyred and 6 were injured due to Indian unprovoked firing," the statement said.

The injured were provided medical treatment at army medical facility at Lipa, a border town in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Pakistan and India had declared ceasefire along the LoC and the Working Boundary in 2003. Both, however, routinely accuse each other of violating the ceasefire.

There has been escalation along the LoC and Working Boundary since militants attacked an army base in the Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing 19 soldiers on Sept. 18 last year.

The Indian military had blamed the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad group for the attack and also pointed fingers at Pakistan. However, Islamabad rejected the charges and suggested an independent investigation.

In 2017 to date, the Indian forces have carried out more than 900 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary, resulting in the killing of 45 civilians and 155 injuries, as compared to 382 ceasefire violations in 2016, according to Pakistan's Foreign Ministry.

source: Alarabiya