19 killed in 555 Kashmir truce violations

Fourteen civilians and five security personnel were killed in 555 ceasefire violations by Pakistani forces this year in Jammu and Kashmir, the government said Tuesday.

The largest number of 405 violations took place along the international border that is under the operational control of the Border Security Force (BSF), Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told parliament.

Of these, 344 violations were reported from the Jammu sector and 61 from the Indreshwar-Nagar sector, the minister said in the Rajya Sabha.

The 405 violations along the international border were a steep rise from the 148 ceasefire breaches in 2013 and just 11 and 21 in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

Similar violations this year along the Line of Control (LoC) and the section of the international border controlled by the army stood at 150, the minister said.

This was a slight drop from the 199 violations of 2013. The figures were 51 in 2011 and 93 in 2012.

The minister said 14 civilians and five security personnel were killed in the Pakistani firing this year till Nov 30.

There were no deaths of civilians in 2011 and 2013 while four civilians died in 2012.

The number of security personnel killed on the border in cross-border firing and other tactical incidents was five in 2011 and 2012 each and 12 in 2013, Parrikar said.