Jammu: One civilian was on Sunday killed and another injured when Pakistani troops resorted to heavy shelling along the IB and the LoC in Jammu and Poonch districts, drawing retaliation from Indian forces, an official said.
Also, the neighbouring country’s troops violated ceasefire for a fourth consecutive day by resorting to heavy shelling along the International Border (IB) and the LoC in three sectors of Jammu and Rajouri districts.
“Two brothers were injured when shells hit their house in Kanachak-Pragwal sector along the IB in Jammu district tonight. One of them, Gopal, later succumbed to his injuries and the other is in hospital,” a senior police official said. He said heavy shelling is going on in the area.
Meanwhile, an Army jawan, injured in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan on Saturday night, succumbed to injuries on Sunday, the police said, adding, with this, the death toll in the border firing in Jammu and Kashmir since Thursday rose to 12. “Pakistan Rangers resumed (shelling) along the IB in Kanachak sector of Jammu tonight. There have been mortar shelling and it is being replied back,” a BSF spokesperson said.
Pakistan resumed heavy shelling along LoC in Bhawani, Karali, Said, Numb and Sher Makri areas of Rajouri district on Sunday evening, DC of Rajouri Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said. In Akhnoor, Pakistani forces resorted to firing along the Line of Control (LoC), police officials said. Troops are retaliating, they said.
Sepoy C K Roy, who was posted in a forward post in Mankote sector of Poonch district, was injured in Pakistani firing on Saturday and succumbed to injuries at a military hospital the same night, a police official said. While a BSF jawan and a teenage girl were killed on Thursday, four persons – two civilians and one BSF jawan and an Army jawan – were killed and over 40 others, including two BSF personnel, injured in the Pakistani firing on Friday.
Three civilians and an Army jawan were killed and 16 others injured in the ceasefire violations on Saturday. There was no report of firing by Pakistan along the IB in Jammu, Kathua and Samba districts since last night, BSF and police officials said.
A BSF spokesperson said firing from across the border stopped in Samba and Kathua districts in the afternoon but was going on intermittently in some areas of Jammu district. A police official said the authorities were keeping an eye on the situation and rushed police teams to affected areas to ensure prompt assistance to the people.
The people were asked to stay indoors and not to touch any suspicious object in their area as it could an unexploded mortar shell, he said.
Firing from across the border started on Thursday and has forced thousands of people to flee their homes and take shelter in rehabilitation camps or with their relatives.
PTI