5 OF FAMILY DIE IN PAK SHELLING
Five members of a family were killed and two others critically wounded in Pakistani mortar shelling in Mendhar area of the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Sunday.
The Army said the Pakistani troops resorted to “unprovoked” mortar shelling on the Indian forward posts and civilians areas from 7.40 am on Sunday in their latest violation of November 2003 ceasefire understanding.
“The Indian troops retaliated to unprovoked Pakistani shelling promptly and effectively,” said a defence spokesman in Jammu.
The Pakistani authorities have reported that nine civilians were injured in the Indian shelling at four different locations in Nakyal sector on their side of the LoC.
The officials in Jammu and Poonch said that mortars fired by the Pakistani troops started raining 0n villages in Balakote sector of Mendhar at 7.40 am. One of the shells landed at the house of one Muhammad Ramzan in Devta village killing the 45year-old resident, his spouse Malika Bi, 45, and three sons — Muhammad Rehman, 19, Muhammad Rizwan, 18, and Muhammad Razaq, 8.
Five members of a family were killed and two others critically wounded in Pakistani mortar shelling in Mendhar area of the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Sunday.
The Army said that five of its men were also injured in the Pakistani mortar shelling in Balakote sector along the LoC in Mendhar area of Poonch.
Two of Ramzan’s daughters Noorain Akhtar (14) and Marin Akhtar (7) who were critically injured in the incident were quickly taken to the district hospital in neighbouring Rajouri where from they were airlifted to government-run Medical College Hospital in winter capital Jammu for specialised treatment.
J&K’s works minister and chief spokesman of the PDP-BJP government Syed Naeem Akhter, among several government functionaries who visited the injured girls in the hospital, said that one of victims had to undergo surgery and that she is now recuperating.
Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti expressed deep shock and grief over the killings. She termed the incident as “heart wrenching” and said that it caused a wave of shock among the people of the State. She reiterated, “Dialogue and reconciliation are the only means to get state out of this vicious cycle of blood spilling.”