UN group probe ceasefire violations along LoC

NEW YORK: The United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan is investigating ceasefire violations along the Line of Control.

This was stated by UN Secretary General’s spokesman Stéphane Dujarric while answering a question at regular briefing in New York.

He said the breaches are being probed by the international body at Domel, Kotli and Bhimber areas of Azad Kashmir.

Stéphane Dujarric urged both India and Pakistan to find a peaceful solution to their problems through engagement and dialogue.

Indian forces had violated the ceasefire at the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary with Pakistan 221 times in the year 2015. And the number of ceasefire violations also jumped over 200 in the year 2016.

As tension escalated in the region recently, cross-border exchange of fire was increasingly becoming frequent between the nuclear-armed rivals.

As Indian and Pakistani troops regularly exchange fire across their de-facto border in Kashmir, Pakistan has repeatedly told India to refrain from creating tensed circumstances for the soldiers along the border.

Relations between the two countries have plummeted in recent months, with India blaming militants from Pakistan for a raid on an army base in its part of disputed Kashmir in September that killed 19 soldiers.