United Nations observers visit Indo-Pak border areas hit by shelling

A team of UN military observers has visited the border areas of Sialkot district of Pakistan to see damages caused by alleged shelling from Indian forces, officials said on Wednesday. The UN Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) on Tuesday visited villages in Bajwat sector and met relatives of people killed in the firing.

An official of Punjab Rangers said that the UN team met families of three persons killed in the "unprovoked mortar shelling" by Indian troops on August 4. The observers met other people and sought details about the damages. The observers said they were closely observing the situation and investigating the situation.

The UN observers had also visited the villages in Chaprar sector on July 20 to see the damages caused by alleged firing by the Indian forces. UNMOGIP observers have been located at the ceasefire line between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir since 1949 and supervise the truce between the two neighbours.

India has been maintaining that the UNMOGIP has outlived its utility and was irrelevant after the Simla Agreement and the consequent establishment of the Line of Control (LoC).