An Indian army soldier was killed and two others were injured after Pakistani troops fired upon Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The ceasefire was allegedly violated by Pakistan on Tuesday, which launched intense mortar shelling India claims, stating that its army retaliated.
“Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation along the line of control (LoC) in Sunderbani Sector, District Rajouri (J&K). Own troops responded strongly to the enemy fire. In the incident, Naik Aneesh Thomas was critically injured and later succumbed to his injuries,” a statement issued by Indian army on Wednesday reads.
Since 5 August 2019, when India scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, a disputed region also claimed by Pakistan, 79 Indian security personnel (49 in terror incidents and 25 in ceasefire violations) and 71 civilians (45 in terror incidents and 26 in ceasefire violations) have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir, the Ministry of Home Affairs revealed, announcing statistics in Parliament on Wednesday.
India and Pakistan have repeatedly accused each other of violating the ceasefire and targeting civilians in cross-border firefights. The two countries have been fighting over Kashmir for the last seven decades and have traded accusations of sponsoring terrorism. Diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Islamabad deteriorated when India revoked the special, quasi-autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019.