881 ceasefire violation by Pakistan along LoC, IB: MHA

Pakistan has violated ceasefire 881 times on the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir this year so far causing deaths of 30 people, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

A total of 771 ceasefire violations were reported on the LoC up to December 10 and 110 on the IB till November 30, Minister of State for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

A total of 30 people - 12 civilians, 14 Army personnel and four Border Security Force (BSF) personnel - were killed in these ceasefire violations, he added.

The Minister said the ceasefire violations on the LoC, under operational control of Army, this year were over threefold higher compared to 228 such attempts done by Pakistani forces in 2016. There were 152 ceasefire violations in 2015 and 153 in 2014 on the LoC.

However, there was a steep decline in ceasefire violations on the IB, manned by BSF, compared to 221 incidents in 2016. A total of 253 ceasefire violation were reported on the IB in 2015 and 430 in 2014.

Replying to a question, Ahir said that no cross-border firing had been reported in other states except Jammu and Kashmir.

India shares a 3,323 km long border with Pakistan, of which 221 km of the IB and 740 km of the LoC fall in Jammu and Kashmir.

--IANS

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