J&K: Pakistan violates ceasefire along LoC in Poonch, India retaliates

Srinagar, Jan 2: Pakistan on Wednesday violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Indian troops are heavily retaliating.

The incident of ceasefire violation on Wednesday came barely days after Pakistani Rangers violated ceasefire in the Karmara area of Poonch district. The intermittent firing continued for hours on December 23.

Pakistan Tuesday summoned India's Acting Deputy High Commissioner and condemned the alleged "unprovoked ceasefire violations" by Indian troops across the Line of Control which resulted in the death of a woman.

Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Mohammad Faisal, who is also the foreign ministry spokesman, summoned the Indian diplomat and "condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control on December 31," the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement.

The FO alleged that in 2018, the Indian forces have carried out more than 2,350 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary, resulting in the death of 36 civilians, while injuring 142 others.

However, India maintains that UNMOGIP has outlived its utility and is irrelevant after the Simla Agreement and the consequent establishment of the LoC.