Firing from India killed a civilian along LoC: Pak army

Pakistan on Wednesday claimed a civilian was killed and his daughter injured due to "unprovoked" firing by Indian troops across the Line of Control.

A senior military official, who did not want to be named, said the latest death occurred in Khairni Rakkar village of Rawalakot district in Battal sector of the Line of Control.

"Sakhi Muhammad, 60, was killed and his daughter Nabeela was seriously injured due to unprovoked shelling last night," the official said.

This was the second civilian death reported from the Pakistani side of the LoC. A youth died when a mortar shell hit his house in another village of the same district on Monday.

The latest death coincided with United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon's two-day visit to Pakistan. Ban has avoided direct comment on the border skirmishes between the two sides but said on Tuesday that nations should settle their disputes.
He also called for "reaching out and building bridges with one's neighbours".

Relations between India and Pakistan soured last week after the killing of five Indian soldiers in an attack on the LoC. The government said "specialist troops" of the Pakistan Army were involved in the attack.

The bilateral dialogue process was put on hold after an Indian soldier was beheaded and the mutilated body of another soldier was found following an attack by Pakistani troops on the LoC on January 8.

The fresh tensions have dimmed the prospects of early revival of the stalled peace process between the two countries, but efforts are being made for a meeting of the two prime ministers on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York in September.

Image: A BSF soldier patrols near the fenced border with Pakistan along the LoC in Jammu district

Photograph: Mukesh Gupta/Reuters