SIALKOT: The Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) on Monday continued shelling on Pakistani border villages in the Sugmaal, Bhopalpur, Zafarwal and Shakargarh sectors of the Sialkot Working Boundary. Senior officials of the Punjab Rangers said that the Punjab Rangers retaliated befittingly and effectively, making the Indian guns silent. According to locals, 26 cattle were also killed in the shelling. Several mortar shells fired by the Indian BSF landed in local fields which could not explode there, said the sources. Pakistan lodged a protest with India over the latest “unprovoked ceasefire violations” that killed at least three people and injured several others at the Working Boundary. “The Indian Deputy High Commissioner, J P Singh, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to protest over the unprovoked ceasefire violations by India during the nights of October 23, 24 and 25 at Shakargarh and Zafarwal sectors of the Working Boundary,” the foreign ministry said. The foreign ministry expressed “deep concern over these unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian side” at the Working Boundary, and called intentional targeting of civilians by India a detestable and deplorable act. The guns had relatively been silent since Pakistan and India had declared a ceasefire in 2003 along the Line of Control in the disputed Kashmir region, though, both border troops occasionally trade fire. An escalation has been seen in recent months that caused casualties on both sides. Both accuse each other of making violations. Meanwhile, two minor victims of unprovoked Indian BSF mortar shelling were laid to rest in their ancestral graveyards in village Bara Bhai-Sugmaal. A large number of people, including the Punjab Rangers personnel, attended their funeral prayers. Muhammad Aqeel (10) and Saba Bibi (8) were sleeping when the heavy mortar shells fired by the Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) hit their homes, killing them on the spot. According to the District Coordination Officer (DCO), Narowal, Syed Najaf Iqbal, the children were martyred and 15 others, including women, were injured seriously in the shelling overnight. The DCO added that 10 villages were badly affected by the unprovoked Indian BSF mortar shelling along the Sialkot Working Boundary. He said the district administration of Narowal had established a relief centre at Chak Amro for providing relief to the local people affected by the Indian shelling.
