At least 15 killed as Pakistan Army pounds villages along LoC in Jammu & Kashmir, scores injured

The worst-hit in the Pakistani shelling was Poonch district which accounted for all the civilian deaths, the officials said, adding 42 people were also injured

Srinagar: At least 15 civilians lost their lives and dozens others were injured across various border districts of Jammu and Kashmir after the Pakistani army resorted to heavy and indiscriminate shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border early Wednesday morning, officials said.

The assault is being seen as a direct retaliation to India’s “Operation Sindoor” - an overnight missile strike on nine identified terror camps linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen outfits in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

15 deaths were reported in the worst-hit Poonch district with another 25 persons injured, they said. The dead include four children, aged between seven and 14 years. Among four minors, two were siblings.

A Muslim cleric of Darul Uloom Madarsa Quari Mohammad Iqbal was also killed in the Pakistani shelling. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal took to X to say that among the 10 killed were three Gursikhs after Pakistani forces attacked the central Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Sahib in Poonch district.

The shelling was reported from Balakote, Mendhar, Mankote, Sagra, Krishna Ghati, Gulpur, Kerni and even Poonch district headquarters, resulting in damage to dozens of houses.

Defence sources said the Indian Army responded swiftly to the cross-border firing, causing significant damage to multiple Pakistan Army posts in the Kupwara and Rajouri-Poonch sectors, with reports of heavy military casualties.

“Artillery firing by the Pakistan Army since last night has hit civilian areas in Poonch and Tangdhar. Caused the death of 15 innocent civilians and injured 43 others,” they said.

Eyewitnesses said there is panic in Poonch town, which has witnessed two deaths in the Pakistani shelling. There are long queues at fuel stations as people are migrating to their relatives’ houses in Jammu and other safer locations,” a local told DH over phone.

Ten persons were also injured in the Uri sector of Baramulla district and three others were injured in Rajouri district.

The shelling, which began around dawn, targeted forward villages in Poonch, Rajouri, Kupwara, and Baramulla districts, officials said. Mortars rained down on homes, schools, and farms, triggering widespread panic and devastation. Women, children, and elderly residents were among the casualties. Several homes have been reduced to rubble, and losses are mounting.

Hospitals in Rajouri and Poonch are overwhelmed, with ambulances ferrying the wounded through narrow, damaged roads, reports said. Local officials said rescue and relief operations are underway but are being hampered by ongoing shelling.

A senior police officer said the toll is expected to rise as reports continue to pour in from remote villages near the LoC. “This is the heaviest shelling we have seen in years,” he said. “Civilian areas are being directly targeted.”

Meanwhile, authorities shut down schools and issued emergency advisories across border districts. Residents have been urged to stay indoors or move to community bunkers where available. However, many families say they have no safe shelter.

“We don’t have bunkers. We are hiding in basements, praying we don’t get hit next,” said Shakeela Bano from Mendhar. “Why are we, the innocent, paying the price for wars we didn’t start?”

India shares a total 3,323-km border with Pakistan, of which 221 km International Border and 744 km of LoC falls in Jammu and Kashmir.

In Srinagar, the administration has placed the Valley on high alert. Srinagar airport remains under the complete operational control of the Indian Air Force, and all civilian flights are suspended.

As tensions escalate across the LoC, the human cost of the conflict is becoming painfully clear. With the threat of further escalation looming, border residents—grief-stricken and terrified—are pleading for calm.