Pakistan lodges protest with India over cross-border firing

Islamabad March 21 (IANS) Pakistan Foreign Office on Monday summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh to lodge a protest over the death of an elderly woman allegedly due to firing across the Line of Control (LoC) on March 17.

A 60-year-old female resident of village Thandi Kassi died when Indian troops resorted to unprovoked firing in Kotli district along the LoC.

The protest was also lodged over an incident of cross-border firing on Sunday when two children aged nine- and 14-years-old were injured the Foreign Office said in a statement.

The Indian Deputy High Commissioner was summoned by the Director General (South Asia and Saarc) and handed a démarche.

Incidents of cross-border firing were reported with frequency in the last months of 2016 as tensions simmered between Pakistan and India over the Kashmir issue.

Exchanges of fire have been reported sporadically since the new year began.

--IANS
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