Indian troops fired without provocation across the Line of Control [LoC] separating India and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, killing two civilians and wounding another, Pakistan’s military said.

The Indian troops fired indiscriminately on a group of shepherds around noon killing one of them on the spot and critically wounding two others, the military said in a statement on Saturday.

It said one of the wounded later died at a hospital.

“The Indian Army, in a display of its usual inhumane approach towards innocent Kashmiris, opened indiscriminate fire onto a group of shepherds in Sattwal Sector,” the statement said.

Pakistan identified the slain shepherds as Obaid Qayyum, 22, and Muhammad Qasim, 55.

“Both shaheeds [martyrs] are residents of village Bara Dari Tetrinote, Tehsil Hajira, District Poonch,” it said, adding, “Driven by a newfound geo-political patronage, Indian forces have embarked on a plan to take innocent lives to satiate their false narratives and concocted allegations.”

It was another such incident since a ceasefire in 2021 between the South Asian neighbours.

The Indian army claimed in a tweet that a team of its soldiers and police intercepted three infiltrators from the Pakistani side in the Krishna Ghati sector.

It said they “engaged” the infiltrators, who were seen “falling down” near the de facto border dividing Kashmir since 1947.

The Indian army added one Indian soldier suffered a gunshot wound.

The conflicting details given by the two sides could not immediately be reconciled.

The Pakistani military said it issued a strong protest with Indian officials and said Pakistan reserves the right to respond in a manner of its choosing to protect the lives of Kashmiri people living along the LoC.

Wars over Kashmir

The scenic Himalayan region of Kashmir is divided between the two nuclear armed south Asian neighbours who have fought three wars since their independence from British colonial rule in 1947.

Two of the wars were fought over the Kashmir region.

New Delhi has struggled for decades to dampen pro-freedom sentiments in the region, which has a Muslim majority population.

Rebels have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989.

Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebel goal that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

India has stationed more than 500,000 soldiers in the region, the highest concentration of troops anywhere in the world.

India often blames neighbouring Pakistan for supporting rebels but Islamabad denies involvement, saying it only provides moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiris’ struggle for the right to self determination.

Most Kashmiris call it a legitimate freedom struggle.

Armies of Pakistan and India in 2019 almost came to the brink of war after Indian planes intruded Pakistan airspace in what New Delhi said was to target a rebel base.

Pakistan said it shot down two Indian warplanes. It also captured an Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman who was returned by then Imran Khan government to New Delhi in a goodwill gesture.

Source: TRTworld.com