Pakistan says it 'won't be surprised' if India blames it for recent killings in Kashmir

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman on Thursday said she will "not be surprised" if New Delhi blames Islamabad for the recent killing of security personnel in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Mumtaz Zehra Baloch was commenting on Indian claims earlier in the morning that two army officers and a policeman were killed during a counter-militancy operation in the Himalayan region on Wednesday.

Asked if New Delhi could use the incident to launch a "false flag operation" inside Pakistan, Baloch told a weekly news briefing in Islamabad that "India has a habit of dragging Pakistan in its domestic politics and we will not be surprised" if it does it again.

"We have seen the reports about the incident and are trying to independently verify the veracity of what India has claimed," she added.

In 2019, Indian fighter jets entered Pakistani territory to strike "terrorist hideouts" following an armed attack in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops.

Pakistan's air force, in turn, had shot down an Indian aircraft and captured its pilot, who was later released.

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- two of them over Kashmir.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have been killed in the conflict in the region which flared up in 1989.

- Women rights in Kashmir

The spokeswoman also talked about the situation of women in Indian-administered Kashmir, saying “human rights violations continue unabated” in the region.

Women have “frequently been targets of violence and aggression as a means to punish their families and communities for standing up” against India, Baloch said.

She added that abduction and harassment of young women during “cordon-and-search operations” has been used as a punitive tool by the Indian forces to punish entire communities.

"These human rights violations must end so that the women of Kashmir can live in peace and dignity," the official said.