Pakistan: Information on indiscriminate shelling by Indian forces into Azad Kashmir in mid-1995, causing the loss of many Kashmiri lives and property damage

A feature article in Newsday of 28 May 1995, stated that Pakistani and Indian forces often clash in Kashmir using fighter planes, rockets, and artillery. The report added that Indian forces often fire on civilians in Azad Kashmir, and that many have fled to Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Kashmir (Newsday 28 May, 1995).

According to an AFP report of 27 May 1995, Pakistani representatives reported that five people in the Neelum valley in Pakistani (Azad) Kashmir had been killed in the previous ten days. According to the Pakistani media, six people had been killed in a week by Indian forces along the Line of Control (LOC) which separates Indian Kashmir from Pakistani Kashmir (Agence France Presse 27 May 1995).

On 31 May 1995 Radio Pakistan reported that 24 passengers were killed and four injured  in Azad Kashmir when their bus was hit by Indian troops firing from across the LOC (Deutche Presse-Agentur 31 May 1995).

On 9 June 1995, the Pakistani newspaper JANG  wrote in an editorial that incidents along the LOC were increasing and that Indian forces were firing across the border with increasing intensity.

On 22 June 1995 Pakistani radio reported that violations of the cease-fire by Indian troops had been increasing in the previous few weeks, "causing widespread damage to property and livestock" in Pakistani communities near the LOC. The radio reported that four women had been killed and 13 civilians seriously injured as a result of  "indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by Indian troops from across the Line of  Control [LOC] into Azad Kashmir during the last 10 days" (Islamabad Radio 22 June 1995).

On 26 June 1995 Pakistani radio reported that Pakistani president Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari had asked India to stop its "unprovoked" "shelling and firing" into the Pakistani side of the LOC. The president added that safe roads were being developed in the area to allow safe travel on the Pakistani-controlled side of the LOC (Islamabad Radio 26 June 1995).

On 6 July 1995 Reuters reported that "at least two people" were killed and five wounded that day in Azad Kashmir by Indian troops firing across the LOC, and that one man had been killed and another wounded on 3 July when their jeep was hit by Indian fire from across the LOC, according to the Pakistani police.

Pakistan TV reported on 8 July 1995 that six people, including three children, had been killed and nine people, including four children, had been wounded in Azad Kashmir by Indian troops firing from across the LOC during the previous week.

Radio Pakistan reported on 13 July 1995 that six civilians had been killed and 25 people injured in the previous week by Indian forces firing into Azad Kashmir. The report added that Indian attacks on Azad Kashmir had been increasing, and that they had begun using rockets on villages in Azad Kashmir, damaging property and livestock (Radio Pakistan 13 July 1995).

According to the Pakistani newspaper The Dawn of  8 September 1995, "at least three people were killed and four injured" in the Neelum Valley on the Pakistani side of the LOC as a result of Indian shelling from across the ROC (The Dawn 8 Sept. 1995).

On 27 January 1996, AFP reported a claim by Indian officials that Pakistani forces had fired at Indian positions in Kashmir approximately 3,000 times during the previous year (Agence France Presse 27 Jan. 1996). They also said that Pakistan had fired nearly 100 rockets into Indian Kashmir (ibid.). India responded to each of these attacks, sometimes with artillery; most skirmishes went unreported (ibid.).

For more information on the situation along the LOC in 1995, please see the attached articles.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below a list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Agence France Presse. 27 May 1995. "Two Dead in Indian Cross-Border Shooting in Kashmir." (IRBDC Indexed Media Review [Ottawa] , 23-29 May 1995, Vol. 9, No. 21.

_____. 27 January 1996. Ashwani Kumar. "Kashmir: A Tense Border Where Two Armies Fight On." (Global NewsBank)

The Dawn [Karachi, in English]. 8 September 1995. "India Kills 3 Kashmiris on LoC." (Internet: http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/1995/14Sp95.html#indi)

Deutche Presse-Agentur. 31 May 1995. "Indian Firing Across Kashmir Ceasefire Line Hits Bus, 24 Killed." (NEXIS).

Islamabad Radio Pakistan Network [in English]. 22 June 1995. "Radio Addresses Complaints Against Indian Acts." (FBIS-NES-95-121 23 June 1995, p. 68)

_____. 26 June 1995. "President Asks India to Stop Unprovoked Firing." (FBIS-NES-95-121 26 June 1995, p. 82)

JANG [Lahore, in Urdu]. 9 June 1995. "India's Greedy Eyes on Azad Kashmir." (FBIS-NES-95-111 9 June 1995, p. 70)

Newsday [New York]. 28 May 1995. Susan Mazur. "The Mosque in the Mountains: Where the Fire Still Rages." (NEXIS)

Pakistan TV [Islamabad, in English]. 8 July 1995. "Pakistan TV Reports Indian Shootings Across Line of Control." (BBC Summary of World Broadcasts,  10 July 1995, NEXIS)

Radio Pakistan [Islamabad, in English]. 13 July 1995. "Radio Pakistan Reports Violations of Line of Control." (BBC Summary 15 Jul. 1995/NEXIS)

Reuters World Service. 6 July 1995. BC cycle. "Two Pakistan Kashmiris Said Killed by Indian Fire." (NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

Keesing's Record of World Events [Cambridge]. 1995.

Pakistan Herald [Karachi]. 1995.

Attachments

Agence France Presse. 27 May 1995. "Two Dead in Indian Cross-Border Shooting in Kashmir." (IRBDC Indexed Media Review [Ottawa] , 23-29 May 1995, Vol. 9, No. 21.

_____. 27 January 1996. Ashwani Kumar. "Kashmir: A Tense Border Where Two Armies Fight On." (Global NewsBank)

The Dawn [Karachi, in English]. 8 September 1995. "India Kills 3 Kashmiris on LoC." (Internet: http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/1995/14Sp95.html#indi)

Deutche Presse-Agentur. 31 May 1995. "Indian Firing Across Kashmir Ceasefire Line Hits Bus, 24 Killed." (NEXIS).

_____. 12 July 1995. BC cycle. "Pakistan Warns India of Cost of Arms Race, Offers Talks on Kashmir." (NEXIS)

Islamabad Radio Pakistan Network [in English]. 22 June 1995. "Radio Addresses Complaints Against Indian Acts." (FBIS-NES-95-121 23 June 1995, p. 68)

_____. 26 June 1995. "President Asks India to Stop Unprovoked Firing." (FBIS-NES-95-121 26 June 1995, p. 82)

JANG [Lahore, in Urdu]. 9 June 1995. "India's Greedy Eyes on Azad Kashmir." (FBIS-NES-95-111 9 June 1995, p. 70)

Newsday [New York]. 28 May 1995. Susan Mazur. "The Mosque in the Mountains: Where the Fire Still Rages." (NEXIS)

Pakistan TV [Islamabad, in English]. 8 July 1995. "Pakistan TV Reports Indian Shootings Across Line of Control." (BBC Summary of World Broadcasts,  10 July 1995, NEXIS)

Radio Pakistan [Islamabad, in English]. 29 April 1995. "Radio Pakistan Says Indian Fire Across Line of Control Killed Two People." (BBC Summary 2 May 1995/NEXIS)

_____. 24 May 1995. "Radio Pakistan Reports Fatalities in Indian Firing Across Line of  Control." (BBC Summary 26 May 1995/NEXIS)

_____. 22 June 1995. "Pakistan Lodges Complaints Against Indian Line of Control Violations." (BBC Summary 24 June 1995/NEXIS)

Reuters World Service. 25 September 1995. BC cycle. "Indian Firing Said to Kill Two in Pakistan Kashmir." (NEXIS)