Pakistan accuses Indian army of killing civilian at Kashmir border

The Pakistan Army said Monday that Indian border guards resorted to "unprovoked" firing at the Kashmir border, killing a 62-year-old man.

The incident took place in the Nikial sector of the Line of Control (LOC), a de facto border that divides the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region between the two nuclear rivals.

"The Indian Army resorted to unprovoked firing in the Nikial sector, targeting innocent civilians and resulting in the Shahadat (martyrdom) of an old-aged individual and traumatized three women while cutting grass in the fields," said a statement from the Pakistan Army.

"This blatant Indian aggression is a clear violation of existing cease-fire understandings," it added, referring to a cease-fire deal in March 2021 that the United Arab Emirates reportedly helped broker between the two armies, which face each other along one of the world's most militarized zones.

Pakistan desires "peace and tranquility at its borders. However, all necessary measures will be taken to protect the lives and property of our citizens."

Any misadventure against the people of Pakistan will be "befittingly" responded to at the time and place of "our choosing," it added.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry summoned the Indian chargé d'affaires on Monday to lodge a protest over the incident.

In May this year, Indian troops reportedly shot dead a young man who had inadvertently crossed into the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir.

DISPUTED REGION

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- two of them over Kashmir.

Also, in the Siachen glacier region in northern Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani troops have fought intermittently since 1984. A cease-fire came into effect in 2003.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have reportedly been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.