Heavy shelling reported on India-Pakistan border; 5 soldiers injured

A house destroyed during a gunfight that erupted between security forces and militants in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 18, 2019. IANS Photo via The Statesman

JAMMU — Five soldiers were injured in heavy shelling by Pakistani troops on the Indian positions and in civilian areas along the Line of Control (LoC) between Akhnoor in Jammu and Poonch on Tuesday.

The five Army personnel were injured at Keri Lalyali in Akhnoor. Two of them were seriously injured and have been rushed to the military hospital at Udhampur, while others have been admitted in Akhnoor.

The injured are Gunner Rahul Kumar Yadav, Lance Naik Tridip Deori, Gunner Ajruddin and Gunner Ajay Singh.

On Tuesday evening, Pakistani troops started targeting civilian areas with heavy shelling of mortars. The shelling at several places along the LoC follows the pre-dawn strike by the IAF targeting terrorist training camps deep in Pakistan.

Army spokesman Lt Col Devender Anand said Pakistani troops were shelling civilian areas along the LoC in Akhnoor, Nowshera and Krishna Ghati.

The Indian Army has been strongly retaliating.

“At about 5:30 pm Pakistan initiated unprovoked cease fire violation by heavy shelling with mortars and firing of small arms along LoC in Akhnoor, Nowshera & Krishna Ghati Sectors (J&K),” Anand said.

The villages along the LoC in Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch districts were witnessing shelling by Pakistan troops, at the time of writing.

Pakistan authorities have already got more than 40 villages vacated along the LoC in PoK on the other side of Poonch. Top officers of Pakistan’s army and air force had recently visited the areas along the LoC in PoK.