Jammu, Mar 04: Indian and Pakistani troops on Monday once again traded fire along the Line of Control in Akhnoor sector here, breaking a two-day lull in cross-border skirmishes, officials said.
“The firing from across the border started around 0300 hours and stopped at 0630 hours,” a defence spokesman said.
He said Pakistan initiated the “unprovoked ceasefire violation” by firing mortar shells and small arms on forward posts and villages.
“Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively,” the spokesman said adding there was no report of any casualty on Indian side.
Barring a two-hour cross-border firing in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district Saturday afternoon, the guns had fallen silent all along the LoC since Friday night.
The lull in the cross-border firing had come as a major relief to the border residents, especially in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri, while four persons including three members of a family were killed and several others injured in firing from across.
Meanwhile, a live mortar shell was found on Monday in a field near the International Border (IB) in Samba district, police said.
Bomb disposal squad has been summoned to defuse the rusted 82-MM mortar shell which was unearthed from an agriculture field at Narayanpur village in Ramgarh sector, an official said.
He said the mortar shell apparently came from the Pakistani side and landed in the field during last year’s border skirmishes. Efforts are on to defuse the explosive, the official said.
