Warlike situation in border villages

A warlike situation prevails in border villages with Pakistani troops continuously firing mortars and rocket shells on Indian forward posts and civilian areas along the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir, .

Reports said the Pakistani troops fired mortars on 10 border outposts (BoPs) and se
veral border villages throughout Sunday night, leaving two security personnel injured.
“Pakistani Rangers fired from automatic weapons on the BoPs and forward areas along the IB at the R S Pura, Ramgarh, Kanachak, Arnia and Checkineck forward areas of the Jammu and Samba districts throughout the night,” they said.

Official sources said a Border Security Force (BSF) trooper and a Special Police Officer (SPO) of the Jammu & Kashmir Police were injured in the Kandi-Arnia and Kanachak belts.
The BSF troops retaliated, resulting in an exchange of fire which continued intermittently on Monday, they said.

Continuous firing has been reported along the 190-km IB in the Jammu, Samba and Kathua sectors, besides Poonch, since August 14.

On Saturday, the Pakistani Rangers pounded 14 Indian BoPs and civilian areas in Jammu frontier with mortar and rocket shells.

There have been more than 150 ceasefire violations along the LoC and IB in the last two months.

Eyewitnesses told Deccan Herald over the phone that the latest shelling has triggered migration from several border villages in the Samba sector. “As rockets and mortars started landing in the forward villages, people, mostly women and children, boarded trucks and trolleys and shifted to safer places,” they said.

Contingency plan

The state government has already put a contingency plan in place anticipating migration from the border areas.

In the backdrop of the rising ceasefire violations, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, along with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, will visit the forward areas along the IB on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, who visited the affected villages on Monday, directed civil and police officers working in the border areas to remain stationed at their respective locations and prepare a comprehensive contingency plan to deal with any eventuality.

An official handout said Tara Chand, along with Public Health Engineering Minister Sham Lal Sharma, Minister for Planning Ajay Sadhotra and Housing Minister Raman Bhalla, reviewed security scenario in the Chamliyal, R S Pura and Suchetgarh areas.