TEHRAN - At least 109 people, including 56 security personnel, were killed in 2,855 incidents of cross-border firing and ceasefire violations by Pakistani forces along the border in Jammu and Kashmir between January 2016 and July this year, an Right to Information (RTI) response has revealed.

The information provided by the Kashmir desk of India’s home ministry to Jammu-based RTI activist Raman Sharma showed a steep increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistani forces this year, compared to 2016 and 2017 along the international border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC), said a report in NDTV.

Till July, there were 1,435 ceasefire violations by Pakistan as compared to 449 in 2016 and 971 in 2017.

The numbers showed that firing and violations by Pakistani forces increased post the surgical strikes by the Indian Army on terror launch pads in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, two years back on September 29.

In recent years, the violations of the ceasefire accord the two countries signed in 2003 have assumed alarming proportions. According to conservative estimates, more than two thousand such violations have taken place since 2011 alone, which often have sparked political, diplomatic and military tensions.

Both parties have failed to holistically weigh the causes and consequences of recurring ceasefire violations and failed to take steps in order to prevent them, believe observers.