A resident of Pakistan-administered Kashmir walks past a shrapnel-marked wall. Sajjad Qayyum—AFP
Pakistan lodges protest with India after elderly man killed in firing on its side of the Line of Control.
An elderly Pakistani man was killed by Indian troops as fresh cross-border firing rocked the disputed Kashmir region, officials said Wednesday.
The 75-year-old was herding goats outside his home in the Chari Kot border village of Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Tuesday when he was killed by “unprovoked” firing by Indian troops, Abdul Majeed Mughal, a senior government official in the region tasked with monitoring cross border fire, told AFP. “A 75-year-old man was killed due to Indian firing in Chari Kot,” Mughal said.
Local government officials also confirmed the casualty caused by shots from Indian soldiers, adding that Pakistani troops returned fire.
Pakistan’s foreign affairs ministry said it had lodged a protest with India over the incident.
At least 20 civilians have been killed and thousands on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border, have fled their homes since Oct. 6—the beginning of some of the worst frontier shelling in years.
India called off peace talks last month after Pakistan consulted with Kashmiri separatists, in a move some saw as a sign of a tougher stance under Narendra Modi’s new rightwing government.