Poonch: civilian killed in Pak firing along LoC

A 22-year-old civilian was killed in heavy mortar shelling by the Pakistan Army along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Wednesday.

Mohammad Abdul Karim was critically injured when a mortar shell hit his house at village Dabraj in Mendhar sector late Tuesday. He was immediately evacuated to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead, the officials said.

Mendhar and Krishna Ghati sectors witnessed heavy mortar shelling and firing from across the LoC on Tuesday, resulting in the death of Army soldier Naik Ravi Ranjam Kumar and injuries to four other personnel.

Nearly half a dozen houses were also damaged in the Pakistani firing, which had forced the closure of schools falling within the firing range in the two sectors as a precautionary measure.

Schools, however, reopened on Wednesday, the officials said.