Fear has gripped the border villagers after Pakistani Rangers indiscriminately shelled the Border Security Force (BSF) posts and civilian areas leaving four people injured including two locals in the Arnia sector of Jammu.
What has happened?
Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire in Arnia sector along the International Border (IB) on Sunday evening when they opened indiscriminate firing on around nine Border Outposts (BOPs) of 192-battlaion BSF at around 8.35 pm.
"Burst fire followed by single shot came on the Naka mounds of BOP tent guard of 192 bn at around 2035 hrs. BSF troops also retaliated appropriately keeping restrain. However, firing from Pakistan side continued during the whole night," said a BSF spokesman at Jammu.
Did BSF troops retaliate to the Pakistani firing?
With no option left, the BSF troops retaliated in calibrated manner. Pakistan Rangers fired mortars shells and used other long range weapon systems to target the BSF posts.
"It was an unprovoked firing. We retaliated otherwise there would have been more damage. There was intermittent firing through the night. But firing stopped in the morning," said Rakesh Sharma, Inspector General of BSF, Jammu frontier.
Was there any casualty?
Two BSF jawans and two civilians sustained injuries in the cross border firing. "Two BSF jawans got minor injuries and were admitted to Government Medical College hospital. Both of them are stable. Some civilians have also borne minor injuries," said the spokesman.
Did Pakistani troops also targeted civilian areas?
Pakistani Rangers used long range mortars to target the villages near the IB apart from the BSF posts. Pakistani rangers first used small arms to target the Indian positions. However at 11 pm, they changed gears and used heavy weapons to shell the villages nearby.
Some of the shells landed in the Suhagpora village which is little far from the IB. A shell landed near a residential house causing splinter injuries to two persons. Another shell landed near a village banquet hall. One of the shells landed on the residential house in Pindi village causing cracks to the structure. Some of the shells also landed in the nearby fields causing panic among the villagers.
How many ceasefire had taken place on the borders?
There have been two ceasefire violations in the last 48 hours. Last year, there were a total of 347 ceasefire violations in Jammu and Kashmir including 199 along the LoC. From January to July 16 this year, there have been 54 cease fire violations.
When did the ceasefire come into force?
The ceasefire on borders came into force on November 26, 2003 when the then Pakistani premier Zafarullah Khan Jamali announced unilateral truce on all the three frontiers — 772 kilometer Line of Control (LoC), 192 kilometer International Border (IB) and 122 kilometer Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL) at Siachen glacier — as a goodwill gesture. New Delhi also responded positively and since then both armies decided to hold fire.
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