Civilian killed, five injured in fresh ceasefire violation along J&K border

One civilian was killed and five others injured after Pakistani troops pounded border outposts (BoPs) and civilian areas along the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday night.

Reports said six civilians, including some women, were injured after mortar shells fired by Pakistani troops fell in the residential area in Arnia sector of Jammu during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. All the injured were admitted to Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu, where a 60-year-old woman succumbed to her injuries in the morning. One of the injured includes a 12-year-old boy.

Reports said the Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked shelling and firing from midnight which continued till 6:45 am. This was the third ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops in the Arnia sector in the last two days.  Apart from mortars, Pakistan Army was also resorting to firing with heavy machine guns (HMGs), a BSF official said and added Indian troops gave a “befitting response” to the ceasefire violation from the Pakistani side.

Eyewitnesses told Deccan Herald over the phone that heavy mortar shelling and firing caused devastation of property forcing the people to leave their houses and take shelter in religious places and government buildings already identified for them by the administration.

They said the direct targeting of the border villages prompted authorities to issue an advisory to the people to stay indoors especially during the evening hours. However, the frightened people were not venturing out of their houses even during the daytime though it was peak season for them to work in the fields, eyewitnesses added.

There have been continuous ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the IB for the past four days, in which one BSF jawan was killed and a few others were injured. On Saturday a BSF man was killed while several civilians were injured after Pakistani troops targeted forward areas in RS Pura sector of Jammu.

Earlier on September 15, one Border Security Force (BSF) jawan was killed in the ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir's RS Pura sector. There have been 285 violations of the border ceasefire agreement of 2003 by Pakistan in the first eight months of this year, according to figures by the Indian Army. In 2016, the number was significantly less at 228 for the entire year.