India, Pak troops trade fire along LoC in Rajouri
Jammu, Mar 02: Indian and Pakistani troops Saturday again traded fire along the Line of Control in Rajouri district, officials said.
The shelling “from across the border started in Nowshera sector around 12.30 pm,” ending over 12-hour-long lull in the border skirmishes which intensified after India air strikes on “Jaish-e-Mohammed’s training camp” at Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan on Tuesday.
A young woman and her two children were killed and several others, including two Army personnel, were injured in heavy shelling along the LoC in lower Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district Friday night, raising the death toll in the exchange of firing on the Indian side to four.
“Pakistan continues with nefarious designs and at about 1230 hours, again initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by shelling with mortars and firing of small arms along the LoC in Nowshera sector,” a defence spokesman said.
“The Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively,” he said, adding that there was no report of any casualty on Indian side in the latest round of firing.
Meanwhile, all educational institutions within five kilometer radius of the LoC remained closed for the fifth day Saturday as a precautionary measure, officials said.
They said the Indian forces are on high alert and keeping a close vigil along the LoC and the International Border (IB).
A police official said the shelling from across the border stopped around 11 pm Friday after intense firing which left 24-year-old Rubana Kosar, her five-year-old son Fazan and nine-month-old daughter Shabnam dead and her husband Mohammad Younis injured in Salotri village of Poonch district.
“The panic-stricken border residents in some worst-hit villages fled to safer places. There was no report of mass migration and people are staying back at their homes although the district administration had made necessary arrangements in case people are forced to flee their homes,” the official said.
Poonch Deputy Commissioner Rahul Yadav said the health institutions are open and working round-the-clock to meet any eventuality.
“All ambulances have been mobilised and moved to the areas close to the LoC with special teams to help people in need,” he said.
2 soldiers, 2 civilians killed in Indian firing across LoC: Pak Army
Islamabad, Mar 2: Pakistan Army said Saturday that two of its soldiers were killed in an exchange of fire with Indian forces near the Line of Control.
The soldiers were killed in the Nakiyal Sector of the LoC, it said.
“Reports of casualties of Indian troops and damage to post due to effective response by Pakistan Army,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the army, said in a statement.
Separately, the army claimed that Indian firing was continuing across the LoC, which killed as two civilians and injured two others, including a woman.
