JAMMU/SRINAGAR, 7 May: At least 12 people, including four children, were killed and 57 others injured as the Pakistan Army resorted to heavy artillery and mortar shelling on forward villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, officials said.
The intense shelling from across the border started shortly after Indian armed forces carried out missile attacks on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir to avenge the April 22 terror attack in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam that had left 26 civilians dead.
The officials said the Indian Army is responding to the shelling in a befitting manner, resulting in many casualties on the enemy side after several of their posts engaged in firing were destroyed.
The worst-hit in the Pakistani shelling was Poonch district which accounted for all the civilian deaths, the officials said, adding 42 people were also injured and the condition of some of them was stated to be serious.
The indiscriminate shelling by Pakistan created panic among the border residents who were forced to take refuge in underground bunkers or shift to safer places within or outside their villages, the officials said.
The shelling was reported from all along the LoC in Poonch, including Balakote, Mendhar, Mankote, Krishna Ghati, Gulpur, Kerni and even Poonch district headquarters, resulting in damage to dozens of houses and vehicles, they said.
Ten persons, including five minor children were also injured in cross-border shelling in Uri sector of Baramulla district, while three others were injured in Rajouri district, the officials said, adding several houses also caught fire due to shelling in Karnah sector of Kupwara district.
The shelling from across the border was intense till noon and later continued intermittently, mostly restricting to Poonch sector.
Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district have designated nine public shelter camps with adequate amenities for the people desirous to relocate from the forward villages hit by Pakistani shelling along the Line of Control, an official said on Wednesday.
With arrangements already in place for relocating people to safer locations, the district administration of Poonch conducted a detailed review of preparedness at various designated shelter camps during the day, the official said.
He said a team of senior officers visited the proposed camp sites to assess the readiness of facilities and ensure all logistic and support systems are operational.
He assured the public that essential services, including accommodation, food, and medical assistance, are available at all these shelter sites. People are being encouraged to make use of these facilities if they wish to relocate, the official said.
Hundreds of residents along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) here were evacuated to safer zones on Wednesday as authorities chalked out countermeasures to safeguard civilians from Pakistani shelling.(PTI)