Summary The incident occurred at Mohra village in Nakial sector of Azad Kashmir.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - The Director General (SA & SAARC), Dr. Mohammad Faisal, summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner, Mr. J.P. Singh on Friday and strongly condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations and targeting of a school van, by the Indian forces on the LoC, in Nakial sector, resulting in killing of one innocent civilian and injuries to eight school children.
Mohammad Faisal stated that the deliberate targeting of civilians, villages and civilian transport and a school van is condemnable and contrary to human dignity as well as international human rights and humanitarian laws.
The Director General urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding; investigate this incident and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit, stop targeting the villages and civilians and maintain peace on the LoC.
The incident occurred at Mohra village in Nakial sector of Azad Kashmir where officials said shelling by Indian troops was continuing.
"A shell fired by Indian troops hit a school van at LoC (Line of Control) in Nakial sector, The van driver has been martyred and eight children wounded," Zeeshan Haider, a senior government official told AFP.
Nakial lies on the Line of Control, the de facto border between India and Pakistan in the disputed Himalayan state.
Haider said the driver of the van, carrying pupils from a private school, was killed on the spot while the children, aged between 10 and 15 years, were taken to hospital amid heavy shelling.
Muhammad Nasrullah Khan, a doctor in Nakyal hospital told AFP that the children had shrapnel injuries but their condition was not life threatening.
Sardar Iftekhar, a police station house officer in Nakial confirmed the incident and casualties and told AFP that the wounded children included five girls and three boys.
Months of tension between India and Pakistan have erupted into shelling and gunfire across the disputed Kashmir frontier, claiming the lives of dozens of people, including civilians.
At least nine people were killed and seven others wounded late November in cross-border fire that hit a passenger bus in the village of Nagdar in Azad Kashmir.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in full and have fought two wars over the mountainous region.
-- with inputs from AFP
