 Early Times Report
Jammu, May 22: 16 villagers, including a 70-year-old woman, were injured as Pakistani Rangers today fired mortar shells on forward posts and villages along the International Border (IB) in the Jammu region for the eighth day, officials said.
Hundreds of panic-stricken villagers fled their homes and took shelter either at houses of their relatives or at relief camps set up by the government. Educational institutions in the affected areas of Jammu and Kashmir remained closed.
In the latest firing and shelling by Pakistan Rangers on Indian forward villages along the international border, four civilians - Bhupender Singh, Amandip Singh, Dheerak Kumar and Khushpreet Kaur of Bainglad village in Ramgarh sub-sector in Samba were injured late Tuesday evening.
At least seven villagers including four women were also injured in Keso village of Ramgarh sub sector in Samba district. Mortars exploded in and around the village at around 7 pm.
The injured have been identified as Vikas, Raj Kumar, his wife Bimla Devi, Swarna Devi, Rekha Devi, Manohar Lal and Kamaljit Kour, all residents of Keso village in Ramgarh sector of Samba district.
The seven injured were rushed to government medical college and hospital in Jammu.
The gun-battles, though sporadic and intense at times, continued on Tuesday, affecting a large population in forward villages along the border in the districts of Jammu, Kathua and Samba.
The firing from across the border was intense. Dozens of villages along the IB were hit by 80 mm and 120 mm mortar shells. This led to a fire breaking out this morning at Jora Farm, a hamlet of milkmen, the officials said.
Two dozen kullas (grass-cum-mud houses) were gutted in the fire, they added.
The fire was put out by fire and emergency services personnel who despite the shelling managed to reach the hamlet, the officials said.
Firing stopped at most of the places in the afternoon, but was still going on intermittently at a few places in Samba district, they said.
Earlier in the day, a senior BSF official said that the firing and shelling continued unabated throughout the night and spread to all sectors along the border from Akhnoor to Samba.
Pakistani Rangers suffered several casualties with a number of their bunkers getting hit during What enmity does Pakistan have with an 8-month-old, asks father of baby killed in ceasefire violation
Early Times Report
Jammu, May 22: What enmity does Pakistan have with an eight-month-old baby, is the question the father of the infant killed in ceasefire violation in Jammu and Kashmir's Akhnoor is asking. In a heart-wrenching incident, the eight-month-old baby was killed after he was hit by a bullet during a ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Keri Battal area of Akhnoor near the Line of Control. "He suddenly started crying. His clothes were drenched in blood. He died by the time we took him to hospital. What enmity Pakistan has with an 8-month-old?" the father asked, as per news agency. The development came even as Pakistani troops violated ceasefire in the state's Arnia sector.
While the Centre has announced a ceasefire during the month of Ramzan in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan has not stopped violating the ceasefire along the Line of Control. The firing has forced residents in several areas along the LoC to move to safer places.
"Shelling is incessant, we are very scared; we can't sleep at night. We cannot even take out our livestock for grazing. It's a crisis situation. We appeal to the government to find a solution or make some arrangements," quoted locals from Suchetgarh as saying.
"It has been learnt that one of the injured Rangers has been shifted to the Lahore hospital, while two others are being treated at a local hospital," the official said.Firing from the Pakistan side intensified over the past two days with villagers living close to the border escaping amid mortar shell explosions, officials said.
Several houses were damaged, they said, adding that the number of houses damaged due to shelling is being ascertained.
Inspector General of Police, Jammu, S D Singh Jamwal said police parties have been deployed and they are helping people to shift to safer places from the affected areas.
Jammu Divisional Commissioner Hemant Kumar Sharma said relief camps have been set up at safer places all along the border, especially in the worst hit R S Pura and Arnia sectors.
Hundreds of people have reported at these camps, set up in educational institutions and other government buildings, Sharma said.
He said adequate facilities are available at these camps so that the displaced people do not face any problems.
Schools vulnerable to Pakistani shelling have been closed along the border as a precautionary measure, Sharma said.
The latest round of shelling started on May 15 when the BSF foiled two infiltration attempts by Pakistan-backed infiltrators in the Samba sector and intensified a day after Pakistanï pleading" with the force to stop firing after being pounded with heavy artillery that left a trooper dead across the border on May 20. So far seven people, including two BSF jawans and an infant, have been killed and 18 others injured in Pakistani firing.
Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed a spurt in Pakistani shelling and firing along the IB and the Line of Control (LoC) this year.
Over 700 such incidents have been reported this year, which have left a total of 39 people, including 18 security personnel, dead and scores injured.�
Meanwhile, opposition National Conference today expressed concern over the border shelling and called for peace.
"Bullets and shells are causing enormous human sufferings and this has to be stopped by working towards heralding peace and adhering to the ceasefire agreement, Provincial President, Youth National Conference, Ajaz Jan said. |
