Srinagar: An Army porter was today killed and a girl injured in firing by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kamalkote sector of Baramulla district in Jammu and Kashmir. “There was unprovoked ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the LoC in Kamalkote area,” an army official said.

A civilan working as a porter for the Army was killed “when the Pakistani troops resorted to indiscriminate firing, the official said. The Indian army personnel were giving a “strong and befitting” response to the ceasefire violation, he said. Meanwhile, sources said a girl was also injured in the Pakistani firing. She was taken to a hospital in Uri town for treatment. There has seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistan this year.

On October 12, an army jawan and a porter were killed and six others injured when Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire and shelled forward areas along the LoC in the Poonch district.

Eight civilians, including a two-year-old girl, were injured on October 18 when Pakistani troops shelled civilian hamlets and forward posts along the LoC in Poonch and Rajouri districts.Earlier this month, a Home Ministry official had said that Pakistani troops targeted Indian territories more than 600 times till September 30. Eight civilians and 16 security personnel were killed in the firing.

It is the highest number of ceasefire violations in nearly a decade, the official said.

The truce between India and Pakistan along the International Border, the Line of Control and the Actual Ground Position Line in Jammu and Kashmir had come into force in November 2003. India shares a 3,323-km-long border with Pakistan of which 221 km of the IB and 740 km of the LoC fall in Jammu and Kashmir.