MUZAFFARABAD: Four youths were martyred after a landmine that had drifted from the Indian side accidentally exploded near the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch, Azad Jammu and Kashmir's Directorate General of Public Relations (DGPR) said. According to initial reports, the four had gone to repair a water pipeline at a spring near Mahandlah and Madarpur villages as part of their daily routine when the explosion occurred.
The DGPR said all four youths were martyred on the spot. The victims were identified as Faizan Sagheer, Ishtiaq, Asim Rafiq and Waqas Sharif.
The incident plunged the area into mourning, with residents expressing deep grief over the deaths. The DGPR said residents and livestock in areas near the LoC remained at risk because of the nature of the terrain, unclear border demarcation and landmines drifting from the Indian side.
Local authorities and rescue teams immediately rushed to the site following the blast, cordoning off the area to conduct a thorough clearance operation. Community leaders and local elders have repeatedly called for international intervention to clear unexploded ordnance along the border areas to protect civilian lives.
Earlier this month, two Pakistani civilians were killed by personnel of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) in the Bedian Sector along the International Border. The BSF personnel resorted to unprovoked lethal force against unarmed civilians, violating established protocols and international humanitarian norms.
Such use of force was wholly unjustified and grossly disproportionate, resulting in the tragic loss of two precious lives, the Foreign Office had said. The Indian Chargé d'Affaires was later summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to lodge Pakistan's strong protest over the killing of the Pakistani civilians.