- Title: Pakistan blames Indian shelling for killing of civilians on a bus
- Date: 23rd November 2016
- Summary: MUZAFFARABAD, PAKISTAN (NOVEMBER 23, 2016) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** RELATIVES OF VICTIMS GATHERED OUTSIDE HOSPITAL IN PAKISTANI-CONTROLLED KASHMIR INJURED MAN ON STRETCHER BEING LIFTED OUT OF AMBULANCE INJURED MAN ON HOSPITAL TROLLEY INJURED MAN BEING WHEELED INTO EMERGENCY WARD SPEAKER OF AZAD KASHMIR LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, SHAH GHULAM QADIR, ARRIVING AT HOSPITAL WITH OTHER OFFICIALS VARIOUS OF QADIR WITH INJURED CIVILIAN, TALKING TO INJURED MAN (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) SPEAKER OF AZAD KASHMIR LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, SHAH GHULAM QADIR, SAYING: "Passengers riding in that coaster (public transport van) were fired upon on the main road in the Kiran sector. The coaster was destroyed, and as a result, according to my information, ten people have been martyred so far. Seven others are critically injured." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) SPEAKER OF AZAD KASHMIR LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, SHAH GHULAM QADIR, SAYING: "At this time, they are firing on the single road that serves the entire population of Neelam valley. They have choked the entire Neelam valley." SHAH GHULAM QADIR STANDING IN HOSPITAL CORRIDOR WITH OFFICIALS
- Embargoed: 8th December 2016 15:22
- Keywords: Kashmir India Pakistan Neelam Valley
- Location: MUZAFFARABAD, PAKISTAN
- City: MUZAFFARABAD, PAKISTAN
- Country: Pakistan
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA00159O1YDJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
Civilians were taken to hospital on Wednesday (November 23) after several people travelling on a bus were killed by Indian shelling across the frontier into Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, according to Pakistani officials.
Six civilians injured in the firing were taken to the Combined Military Hospital in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.
There were confusing reports about the exact number of civilians killed, with senior police official Jamil Mir putting the tally of dead at nine.
He told Reuters four bodies were taken to a nearby hospital while five were still on the bus.
But Pakistan's military media wing, ISPR, put the death toll from the bus shelling at seven, adding that three Pakistani soldiers were killed "while responding to Indian unprovoked firing."
Pakistan said its military also killed seven Indian soldiers on Wednesday.
Lawat, where the bus was hit, is 100 km (60 miles) northeast of Muzaffarabad, in the upper belt of the Neelam Valley that straddles the de facto border dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
Speaker of the Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly, Shah Ghulam Qadir, who visited the injured in hospital, told reporters the death toll was expected to rise because seven of the injured were in a critical condition.
He said the Indian troops were firing on the sole road that serves the Neelam Valley, making travel impossible, even for ambulances.
Indian officials did not comment on the deaths, but a military spokesman said the Pakistani Army initiated "indiscriminate" firing on Wednesday morning on Indian Army posts in Bhimber Gali, Krishna Ghati and Nawshera sectors.
Relations between nuclear-armed neighbours Pakistan and India have been strained for several months, while cross-frontier shelling has intensified leading to deaths of civilians and soldiers stationed along the disputed frontier.
Kashmir lies at the heart of the tension. The countries have fought two of their three wars over the region since partition and independence from Britain in 1947. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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