On Friday, suspected militants hurled a grenade in a market in Poonch district.
A day ahead of Independence Day, with the nation on high alert, Pakistan violated the ceasefire in the wee hours of Sunday morning to which the Indian responded heavily. Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing on Indian side along the Line of Control in Shahpu Kandi area of the border Poonch district. Pakistan celebrates it's Independence Day on Saturday.
After a lull of over four months, the ceasefire on the Line of Control was violated again with Pakistan Army firing at two places and shelling mortars. Indian troops retaliated to the firing which was still going on when last reports came in.
"The Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir," Defence Spokesman Lt Col Manish Mehta said here. He said the Pakistan Army resorted to heavy mortar, small arm and automatic weapon fire in Poonch sector since 3 AM.
"Our troops are responding appropriately and no casualties or damage to our troops was reported till the report last came in. The firing was still going on" the spokesman added.
Friday's attack
The attack comes hours after a grenade attack on Amarnath Yathra pilgrims in Poonch, where almost 15 people were injured.
On Friday, suspected militants hurled a grenade in a market in Poonch district, leaving 11 people injured, one of them critical. A grenade was thrown in market place in the Poonch city, Divisional Commissioner (Jammu zone) Pawan Kotwal said. In the ensuing blast, 11 people were injured, one of them critically, he said. While 7 of the injured are locals, 4 others are outsiders.
Police and other security forces, who were on alert due to the Buddha Amarnath yatra in the border district, cordoned off the area and launched a search operation. The incident has took place close to Dashnami Akhara in the city.
First ceasefire in 4 months
Saturday's ceasefire violation comes after over four months as the last such incident took place on April 10, this year in Poonch sector. Earlier Pakistan had violated ceasefire on September 18, 2015 in Balakote sector of Poonch district.
There have been 30 ceasefire violations by Pakistan on the Line of Control till July 31 with one casualty from the army side.
In 2015, 16 civilians were killed and 71 others injured in 405 incidents of cross-border firing by Pakistan, the officer said. While 253 incidents of ceasefire violations took place along the International Border (IB), 152 incidents were reported along the LoC, he said. Around 8,000 people were temporarily affected due to the ceasefire violations and had to be shifted to safer locations.
With ANI and PTI inputs.
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