Dwellers in the villages along the International Border (IB) here were left shell-shocked after Pakistani troops punctured residential houses with mortar bombs and bullets in a fresh overnight ceasefire violation in Jammu region.
Dwellers in the villages along the International Border (IB) here were left shell-shocked after Pakistani troops punctured residential houses with mortar bombs and bullets in a fresh overnight ceasefire violation in Jammu region.
"The firing by Pakistani Rangers first begun with small arms around 6 pm on Sunday and later pounded our villages with mortar bombs throughout the night resulting in fear psychosis", Baldev Ram, a villager of Arnia belt, said pointing to the scores of holes created in the houses there by blast of 82-mm mortar shells and bullets.
Showing the damage caused to his house during the firing, Ram said, "the impact of the shelling was such that the family did not sleep for a minute as they feared for their lives." Apart from six Border Out Posts (BoPs), Pakistan Rangers resorted to firing of 82-mm mortar bombs, small and automatic weapons on civilian areas along International Border (IB) throughout the night.
Like him, Shamsher Singh also narrated the tale of fear and terror that the night-long shelling brought to the people there.
"The firing and shelling has come back to haunt us after a peaceful living four-five months. We feared that we have to migrate again from our border homes... that was the intensity of the shelling by Pakistan Rangers," he said.If the situation continued we will be forced to leave our homes and hearths, they said.
In a nearby area in Arnia, a cow died of shell blast and scores of houses depicted impact of the mortar shelling.
In continued ceasefire violations, Pakistani troops resorted to night-long firing and mortar shelling targeting six Border Out Posts (BoPS) along Indo-Pak border in Jammu district, forcing BSF to retaliate effectively.
One of the villagers said people were scared and reminded of last year's ceasefire violation, which had left several people injured.
Over 170 ceasefire violations have been reported along the IB in Jammu and Kashmir this year in which two civilians and one security personnel have been killed and 19 injured.
Over 562 incidents of ceasefire violations by Pakistan in 2014, the highest since the truce came into force in 2003. As many as 410 ceasefire violations were reported along IB and 152 violations along LoC, in which 19 people, including five jawans, were killed and over 150 injured, besides scores of cattle perishing.
They used small arms and also fired 82-mm mortar shells targeting BoPs in the sector triggering panic among villagers located along the borderline, a Border Security Force (BSF) officer said.
BSF troops, guarding the borderline with Pakistan, took position and retaliated, resulting in exchanges which stopped at around 5 am on Monday, he said, adding that there was no firing since then. There were three ceasefire violations by Pakistan troops during past 12 hours along IB in Jammu sector.
On Sunday, Pakistani Rangers resorted to small arms firing on BoPs along IB in Arnia sector of Jammu district from 18:52 hours to 18:55 hours by firing 25 to 30 rounds.
The firing by Pakistani Rangers resumed at 19:15 hours and the exchange between them and BSF troops continued for over 80 minutes and stopped at 20:35, he said, adding that there was no loss of life or injury to anyone in the firing.
Firing again erupted and was continuing intermittently till last reports came in from the area, the officer said. Earlier, Pakistani Rangers violated the ceasefire and fired at two BoPs along IB in RS Pura sector of Jammu district on June 22.
In Kashmir Valley, there was heavy firing by the Pakistani troops on forward posts along LoC in Nowgam belt of Macchail sector in Kupawara last night.
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