New diplomatic tensions between India and Pakistan after civilians killed by Indian fire

Follow-up - Al-Wasat Iraqi newspaper

Pakistan's foreign ministry today, Saturday, summoned the Indian chargé d’affaires after two Pakistani civilians were killed by fire from Indian security forces at the border between the two countries.

Pakistani security sources said that the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) opened fire in the "Beedian" sector adjoining the international border (near the eastern Kasur area), killing two civilians and wounding a third.

Pakistan's foreign ministry said the victims were unarmed civilians who were walking near the border and had unintentionally crossed the border line by a few steps. It described the use of lethal force as "unjustified and grossly disproportionate," calling on the Indian side to open a transparent and impartial investigation. Islamabad also strongly rejected any Indian attempts to classify the victims as "intruders."

By contrast, sources from the Indian border forces in the "Tarn Taran" area alleged that their personnel had observed what they described as "suspected infiltrators" attempting to cross the border illegally, which prompted them to open fire and neutralize them.

This field-level tension comes a few weeks after the two countries exchanged diplomatic summonses following a naval incident and collision between warships of their navies in international waters.

Source: Agencies