ISLAMABAD, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh and lodged formal protest over the recent ceasefire violations, resulting in the killing of a driver of a school van along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir region.
Director General at the South Asian Desk of the Foreign Ministry Mohammad Faisal, who summoned the Indian diplomat, condemned the "unprovoked ceasefire violations" in Battal Sector, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
"Despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations. The Indian occupation forces deliberately targeted a school van carrying school children on Battal-Madharpur road, resulting in the shahadat (martyrdom) of the driver of the van, Sarfaraz Ahmed, leaving the school children severely traumatized," a statement said.
Pakistan and India had declared ceasefire along the LoC and the Working Boundary in 2003. Both, however, routinely accuse each other of violating the ceasefire.
Giving update on the cross-border shelling, the statement said in 2018, the Indian forces have carried out more than 335 "ceasefire violations" along the LoC and the Working Boundary, resulting in the killing of 14 civilians and injuries to 65 others.
"This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed more than 1,970 ceasefire violations," the ministry said.
The director general urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary.
He also urged that the Indian side should permit a UN military observer group in the region to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions.