A BSF officer and a minor girl were killed in an intensified mortar shelling by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Monday, 1 April, reported PTI.
Inspector T Alex Lalminlun and four other troopers of the BSF, deployed on forward defended locality in Poonch area, sustained injuries while retaliating the ceasefire violation, according to the BSF.
Inspector Lalminlun succumbed to his injuries, while the condition of the other injured is stable and he is out of danger.
Five-year-old minor girl, who was killed when a shell exploded near in a village in Shahpur sub-sector on late Monday afternoon, was identified as Sobia.
District Development Commissioner of Poonch Rahul Yadav said 13 people were injured, of which four have been airlifted, two moved to Jammu via road, while seven are undergoing treatment in the district hospital.
This is the fourth consecutive day that Pakistan has violated the ceasefire in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri.
Earlier in the day, three civilians – Mohammad Sharief Magray, Haniefa Bi and Shoukat Hussain – and an army man guarding a forward post in Mankote were injured in the intense shelling, the officials said, according to PTI.
Pakistan violated the ceasefire around 7:40 am by shelling mortars and firing with small arms along the LoC in Shahpur and Kerni sectors of Poonch district, a defence spokesperson said.
Mortar shells have landed in different villages of Qasba, Mankote, Kerni, Guntariyan and Shahpur, forcing the people to stay indoors, the officials said, adding that all the schools in shelling-hit areas have been closed as a precautionary measure.
The shelling by Pakistan army is currently underway in Krishnagati, Kerni, Mankote, Gulpur, Degwar Shahpur and Poonch sub-sectors, reported PTI.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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