Pak shelling kills 5 of a family in J& K
◗ Mehbooba Mufti termed the incident as ‘ heart wrenching’ and said that it caused a wave of shock among the people of the state
Five members of a family, including three minor brothers, 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. Five Army personnel, including a junior commissioned officer, were also injured.
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 J& K’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 10 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 45- year- old resident, his spouse Malika Bi ( 45) and three sons — Muhammad Rehman ( 19), Muhammad Rizwan ( 18) and Muhammad Razaq ( 8).
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.
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 the State and the region out of this vicious cycle of blood spilling” and appealed all sections of society and governments to support the entreaty.