6 civilians killed, 9 Injured as Pakistan continues shelling

mangaloretoday.com

Srinagar, Aug 16:  Tension continued to remain high on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir this morning. Continued firing and shelling by Pakistani troops killed a 40-year-old woman today. In total, six civilians have been killed and nine injured in the ceasefire violations that began yesterday. A 12-year-old child is among the dead.

 

 
Firing and shelling from Pakistani troops continued through the night, with the local administration advising people in border villages to stay indoors. The ceasefire violations began in the Poonch sector yesterday, even as Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sent his greetings to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Independence Day and called for amicable relations between the two countries.

There have been 32 violations of the 2003 ceasefire in August alone, and this is the eighth consecutive day that Pakistani troops have shelled Indian posts along the Line of Control in the Jammu region.

Shelling in the Balakote sector yesterday afternoon killed five people, including a 12-year-old child and the village headman, and left six others injured. The sixth person to die was the woman who succumbed this morning. All the injured had been airlifted to Jammu, Deputy Commissioner Poonch Nisar Ahamd Wani told NDTV.

"There was very heavy shelling from Pakistan - one shell hit a vehicle in which seven people were travelling. Our sarpanch (headman) was in the same vehicle and he was killed on the spot," one of the injured from Balakote village said.

In the Sabjian sector, three people were injured in the firing in two spots that took place in the morning yesterday. This sector has witnessed the worst shelling over the last week, and more than a dozen families have been forced to evacuate from the area.

In a departure from tradition, Indian and Pakistani troops did not exchange sweets along the Attari border on Friday or Saturday, the Independence Days of Pakistan and India respectively.

Pakistan violated the ceasefire 192 times along the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir till July 26, the government had told the Lok Sabha this week.