A day after Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said India and Pakistan should work for peace, Pakistan army resorted to unprovoked firing along the Line of Control (LoC), killing one Indian soldier in the Keran sector of Kupwara in north Kashmir.
Sepoy Rajesh Khatri was killed when Pakistani snipers targeted him at around 10am today.
Khatri, who was fatally wounded, was removed to the hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. Indian troops effectively retaliated to silence the Pakistani guns.
“Due to cross-border firing by Pakistan, an Army jawan was martyred in the Keran sector of Kupwara,” a police statement said.
The firing in Keran sector started 24 hours after Jammu and Kashmir chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti sought an end to hostilities between India and Pakistan.
“People of Jammu and Kashmir have been the worst victims of this hostility, which has led to the killing of people, dislocations and damages to the property on both sides,'' Mehbooba said at a public rally at Tangdhar close to the LoC.
She said the clashes along the border areas forced people to repeatedly migrate and endure pitiable conditions.
She said peace between the two South Asian neighbours held the key to the progress and development in the region.
“It is very unfortunate that when people should have been demanding schools, hospitals and play fields, they are forced to seek construction of bunkers to save them from bullets and shells,'' she said. ''We need to ponder what we have achieved after 70 years of hostility.”
In the last week, tensions have surged along the LoC.
The BSF has raised vigil and responded adequately to Pakistani provocations.
