Shelling exposes Pakistan frustration after failure to get response on Kashmir: Omar Abdullah

JAMMU: Condemning the shelling on civilians in Arnia belt of Jammu that left five dead, J-K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said that the targeting of civilian areas exposed the frustration of the Pakistani government after its failure to gain international attention on the Kashmir issue.

"They (the Pakistani leadership) have nothing else to speak, but only Kashmir. Whenever they go abroad, they try to raise only Kashmir issue, but every time they miserably fail to get international attention. The cross-border shelling is an indication of their frustration," he told reporters after meeting civilians injured in the shelling at the Government Medical College Hospital here.

Omar strongly condemned the firing and said, "Either we are unable to understand Pakistan's motive behind the increase in the incidents of ceasefire violations or the internal situation in Pakistan is so bad that by targeting Indian side they want to divert the attention of their own people from their internal turmoil."

The Chief Minister said that at a time when people of Jammu and Kashmir should be getting Eid greetings from the Pakistan side, the Pakistani army has gifted them with bombs.

"There was no reason to violate the ceasefire. It was a deliberate attempt from the Pakistani side to target the civilian areas. The death and injury to so many innocent civilians is a part of their nefarious designs," he said.