Pak army shells forward areas along LoC in J-K

Srinagar: Pakistan troops shelled mortars at posts and villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in two sectors of Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district on Monday, drawing a befitting retaliation from the Indian Army, a Defence spokesperson said here.

“At about 1600 hours today, Pakistan army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and shelling with mortars along LoC in Nowshera sector,” he said.

“Pakistan targeted Sunderbani sector also and initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation at 1630 hours today. Indian Army is retaliating befittingly,” the official added.

He said cross-border shelling was going on when last reports were received.

However, there was no immediate report of any casualty in the shelling on the Indian side, the official said.

There was fear and panic among villagers along the LoC in Rajouri, Poonch and Kupwara since three civilians were killed last week in the Pakistani shelling.

There were a total of 646 incidents of ceasefire violations along the International Border (IB) as well as the LoC between January 1 and February 23 this year, Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik said in March.

Over 3,200 ceasefire violations by Pakistan’s troops were recorded in 2019. There is a 198-km-long IB and over 510-km-long LoC with Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir