Pakistani forces have been violating the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC)

India has raised with Pakistan the issue of targeting civilians during ceasefire violations along the Line of Control, which has seen a spike since special status to Jammu and Kashmir was scrapped in August, Army sources said on Friday.

The issue was raised by the Army during functional level talks held by the Directorate General of Military Operations with its Pakistani counterpart on October 1.

Last month, the Army rescued school students amid shelling in Poonch district, an official said. In July, there were 296 cases of ceasefire violations (CFVs), 307 in August and 292 in September, sources said. September also recorded 61 "calibre escalation", implying use of mortar and heavy ammunition.

In July 2018, the Army recorded 13 cases of CFVs, followed by 44 in August and 102 in September. In 2017, there were 68 cases of CFVs in July, followed by 108 in August and 101 in September.

In September this year, of the 292 cases, the area north of Pir Panjal recorded 42 cases of cross-border firing, while the rest were reported in the south of the mountain ranges.

Army sources said the July-September period of this year recorded only 24 cases of "terrorist-initiated incidents" as against 114 and 31 in the corresponding periods of 2018 and 2017, respectively.

They said 85 cases of stones-throwing, five incidents of civil protest and three instances of bandh were reported from Kashmir valley in September.

Restrictions have been place in the valley since August 5 and directions have been given to relax it this week.