New Delhi, Nov 9 (EFE).- A soldier from the Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) died Thursday in a ceasefire violation at the India-Pakistan border in the disputed Kashmir region, marking the third such incident in a month and the first in two years that resulted in a death.
“During night intervening 8/9 Nov 2023, Pakistan Rangers resorted to unprovoked firing in Ramgarh area which was befittingly responded to by BSF troops,” the BSF said in a statement.
A soldier was injured in the exchange of fire – for which New Delhi blamed Islamabad – and died despite being taken to a hospital in the city of Jammu, an official told EFE under anonymity.
This incident marks a rebound in tension between the two nuclear powers, and the third ceasefire violation along the border between India and Pakistan in this area in less than a month.
On Oct. 17, two BSF soldiers were injured in the Arnia sector, while at least two other border guards and one woman were injured in a similar incident on Oct. 28.
India and Pakistan have held each other responsible for the violation of the ceasefire agreement in Kashmir, disputed since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, and over which they have waged three wars and several minor clashes.
“The ceasefire has brought a sense of security among us,” Lateef Ahmad, a resident of north Kashmir’s Uri border area, told EFE. People living near the de-facto border in Kashmir were forced to leave their homes whenever firing began between the two sides.
The two countries reached a ceasefire agreement in 2003, although exchanges of fire at the border intensified after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014.
In 2020, India reported the deaths of 24 military personnel and 22 civilians due to ceasefire violations, the Ministry of Defence told the parliament in August.
The two nuclear powers once again ratified the ceasefire agreement in February 2021, drastically reducing the number of incidents at the border to the point that there were no fatalities in 2022.
The most recent case of the death of a military officer is the first in two years on either side of the border, officials told EFE. EFE
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