Pak troops shell forward areas in Poonch, Kathua

JAMMU: Pakistani troops resorted to small arms firing and mortar shelling along the Line of Control (LOC) and the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch and Kathua districts, drawing retaliation from Indian soldiers, officials said on Thursday.

Pakistani troops resorted to small arms firing on forward posts along the LOC in Dewar sector of Poonch district on Thursday afternoon, a defence spokesperson said.

Indian troops retaliated and the exchanges lasted for over 20 minutes, the spokesperson said.

Earlier, Pakistan rangers fired mortar shells and opened fire on forward areas along the IB in Pansar, Manyari and Chak Changa in Hiranagar sector on Wednesday night and this continued till morning, officials said. BSF troops guarding the border retaliated resulting in brief exchanges, they said.

Indian and Pakistani troops also exchanged fire in forward areas along the LOC in north Kashmir’s Uri sector on Thursday. The firing continued for two hours. Locals said the firing went on for a couple of hours in the afternoon and damaged a house which was hit by a shell fired by the Pakistani side, however, no loss of life was reported.

The Indian Army blamed Pakistan for the ceasefire violation and said the Indian forces manning the LOC retaliated to Pakistani firing. The locals claimed that several mortar shells landed in the villages of Mothal, Silikote, Hatlthanga and Churunda, all located on the zero line.

The latest ceasefire violation spread panic in the villages in Uri, especially those close to the LOC.