Pakistan and India trade blame over two border killings
Islamabad summoned India's chargé d'affaires and speaks of unarmed civilians. New Delhi says they were infiltrators who ignored warnings.
Two men were shot dead on Friday, October 2, near the border between Pakistan and India in the Punjab stretch, and the two governments tell the story in opposite ways. The shots came from India's Border Security Force (BSF). A third man was either wounded or ran away, depending on who is speaking.
Pakistan summoned India's chargé d'affaires to deliver a formal protest, according to Dawn. Its foreign ministry says the dead are Azmat Rasool and Mohsin Jutt, residents of the village of Ladhar in the Kasur area, and that they were unarmed. It says the BSF used "unprovoked and lethal force" and called the shooting "wholly unjustified and grossly disproportionate." It also rejected any attempt to portray them as infiltrators. It demanded a transparent investigation and action against those responsible, according to Pakistan Today.
The Indian version is different. According to Punjab Kesari, the BSF foiled an infiltration attempt at the Rajoke post in Tarn Taran district. It says three people approached from the Pakistani side, ignored warnings, and that when the troops opened fire two died and the third ran back.
The two accounts disagree on the location: Pakistan speaks of the Bedian sector near Kasur, India of the Rajoke post. They agree on the day, the two dead and a third man, but no independent source has confirmed that they describe the same spot. The names of the dead are not known on the Indian side, nor what they carried, if anything.
The border between the two countries is one of the most heavily militarized in the world, and relations between their governments have been tense for years. For now there are no signs of escalation beyond the statements. What remains to be seen is whether New Delhi responds formally to the protest and whether the border forces open any contact to clarify what happened.
