Pak resorts to heavy shelling in Poonch; targets Army posts, villages

Jammu, March 10

Pakistani troops on Sunday resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violations targeting forward posts and villages at four places along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district, officials said.

The firing was intense in the Krishna Ghati sector, where the Pakistani troops resorted to mortar shelling and firing by small arms from around 04.30 am, which was retaliated to befittingly by the Indian Army, a defence spokesman said.      

He said the cross-border shelling between the two sides continued till 07.30 am. There was no report of any casualty on the Indian side, he said.

Officials said firing and shelling by Pakistan were also reported from the Balnoi and Mankote (both in Mendhar sector), besides from Shahpur sector, all in Poonch district, for a brief period in the early hours of Sunday.

The firing was mild in nature and lasted for a brief period without causing any harm, they said.

On late Saturday as well, the Pakistan army had targeted Indian positions in Sunderbani sector of Rajouri district for several hours. 

There has been a spurt in ceasefire violations by Pakistan after India’s pre-emptive air strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp in Balakot on February 26 following the February 14 Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

Four civilians, including three members of a family, were killed and several others injured as Pakistan targeted over 80 villages in more than 100 incidents of ceasefire violations along the LoC in the state since then.

The frequent ceasefire violations have caused panic among the border residents, forcing authorities to close down educational institutions within 5km radius from the zero line in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri as a precautionary measure.

However, most schools reopened a few days back after the intensity of the cross-border firing decreased. PTI