Pakistan again violates ceasefire in Akhnoor sector

JAMMU: Pakistan violated the ceasefire yet again in the wee hours on Saturday as its troops pounded Indian posts and villages with mortars and shells in the Pallanwala area of the Akhnoor sector in Jammu district, forcing the villagers to migrate to safer place.

Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 1

Pakistan violated the ceasefire yet again in the wee hours on Saturday as its troops pounded Indian posts and villages with mortars and shells in the Pallanwala area of the Akhnoor sector in Jammu district, forcing the villagers to migrate to safer place.

So far, around 13,000 persons have moved out from the villages along the Line of Control (LoC) and international Border (IB) in Jammu district. Out of them, only 700 persons have been staying at the 47 relief camps set up by the district administration.

As a precautionary measure, the administration had ordered the drying up of all the filling stations in border areas. So far, two petrol pumps, including one in the Pargwal area, have been dried up.

“Around 3:30 am, Pakistan troops initially targeted the Indian posts with small arms fire and later used heavy machine gun fire. Pakistani troops also fired 82-mm mortars at three villages, namely Platan, Darkote and Channi villages, in Pallanwala,” sources said, adding the firing continued till 7.30 am.

The sources said the Indian Army also retaliated and gave calibrated response to firing from the other side of the LoC.

The sources claimed that no loss of life was reported in the Pakistani firing and shelling. “The administration had already vacated the villages falling under the firing range of enemy along the LoC and IB since the Army conducted surgical strikes on terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,” the sources said.

Pakistan violated the mutually agreed truce between two countries a few hours before the visit of the Indian Army Chief General Dalbir Singh to the Northern Command in Udhampur where he inspected the operational preparedness of the Army along the border in view of the escalating Indo-Pak tension following the surgical strike.

Simrandeep Singh, Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, however, contradicted the reports on the use of mortars and shells by Pakistani troops, saying “Only small arms were fired by Pakistan for two to three hours and the reports regarding use of mortars and shells were being exaggerated in the media. So far, 12,000 persons have moved out of border villages and putting up at their relatives. Nearly 700 persons are staying at relief camps”.