JOIN USCivilian injured in ceasefire violation along LoC in Jammu and Kashmir
A civilian was injured while several houses were damaged as Pakistani troops violated ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Mendhar and Balakote sectors of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday.
Reports said after a brief spell of ceasefire violation in the area on Saturday evening at around 10 pm, which lasted for an hour, Pakistan army again resorted to heavy firing in the area at around 03:15 am on Sunday morning.
“Firing by Pakistan with small arms as well as mortar shelling lasted till four hours and five villages in the area came under fire,” they added.
Block Medical Officer (BMO) Mendhar, Dr Parvez Khan said that a man identified as Mohammad Yaseen resident of Gohlad village got injured in the firing. “He has a splinter injury in his leg. Our team evacuated him with the help of locals and he is being brought to hospital,” he said.
Reports said a few houses also got damaged due to the shelling.
There has been a huge surge in ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir this year with 1547 instances reported till May 15. Pakistani troops had made the highest number of ceasefire violations since 2003 along the J&K border in 2019, amounting to over 3,200 instances or an average of nine such violations daily.
The government of India led by then Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee had entered into a border ceasefire agreement with Pakistan along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir on November 26, 2003. However, according to officials shelling and firing by Pakistani troops since last year is so heavy that virtually it has made the 2003 truce redundant.
India shares a 3,323-km-long border with Pakistan, of which 221 km of the IB and 740 km of the LoC fall in Jammu and Kashmir.