GENEVA — The United Nations human rights office on Thursday called for an international investigation into abuses by India and Pakistan in the disputed region of Kashmir, criticizing the Indian security forces in particular for inflicting mass civilian casualties in response to escalating protests there.

Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the world body’s high commissioner for human rights, said he would urge the Human Rights Council to open an investigation when it convenes next week. His office released a report that detailed abuses by the authorities on both sides of Kashmir’s Line of Control and accused India of letting its security forces operate in a state of “chronic impunity.”

The 49-page report was the first by the United Nations on human rights concerns in the Himalayan territory, according to the rights office. Kashmir has been at the center of three wars between India and Pakistan and the scene of escalating violence since mid-2016.

India announced in May that it was halting military operations against Muslim militants for the holy month of Ramadan in a bid to calm tensions in the Kashmir Valley. Protests had been mounting amid an offensive by Indian security forces that killed dozens of militants, as well as cross-border shelling that inflicted civilian casualties.