Pak shelling: Five civilians injured along LoC

The Pakistan army once again violated ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir injuring five civilians on Thursday.

Reports said Pakistani army started shelling Indian forward posts and civilian habitats along the LoC in Dhani, Sodpura, Tad and Trada villages of Karnah sector in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district from 6:10 am on Thursday.

The shelling, which continued till 10 am, injured five civilians, including a mother-son duo, reports said and added one of the critically injured civilians was shifted to Srinagar for specialised treatment.

Panic gripped the border villagers as the shelling on civilian areas was intense. Authorities have asked civilians to take precautionary steps for their safety and not to venture out unnecessarily in shelling areas.

The border residents feel insecure in the absence of underground bunkers which would shield them from the shelling in the past. During the late 1990s, the government had sanctioned both community and individual bunkers for the residents living near the LoC.

Some of these bunkers were constructed giving the border residents much relief as they would take shelter in these underground bunkers during the shelling. However, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that hit Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir and border areas on the Indian side of Kashmir on 8 October 2005 destroyed a majority of these bunkers.

As 2003 ceasefire agreement between India ad Pakistan by-and-large remained intact for over a decade, large numbers of houses, government schools, colleges and other buildings were built in the shelling prone areas along the LoC in Uri, Tanghdar, Keran and Gurez areas of north Kashmir, making people more vulnerable.