Srinagar: Thirteen families, consisting of 51 people, have fled their homes and relocated to two safer places as active hostilities again broke out between the facing armies along Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district on Wednesday night.
While 35-year-old Akhtar Bi was killed and her husband Muhammad Hanief, 40, was critically injured in the firing from across the de facto border, the Pakistani authorities reported the death of a man and injuries to two other civilians, including a woman in the Indian firing and shelling in PoK. About forty farm animals were also killed and 27 residential houses and a school were damaged in the Pakistani firing and shelling in Laam area of Nowshera sector of Rajouri, DC Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said.
Though no fresh incident of cross-LoC firing was reported during the day on Thursday, the authorities have ordered closure of all schools and other educational institutions falling within the two kilometre range from the LoC in Rajouri district as a precautionary measure. “Also the schools where relief camps from the displaced border dwellers have been set up will remain closed on Friday,” said an official over the phone from Rajouri. “These schools in Nowshera town have been designated by the DC as makeshift accommodation for the migrants,” he added. The district administration has alerted emergency services to deal with any eventuality in view of the heightening tensions following the exchange of small arms and mortars between the facing troops. While the district administration quickly responded to the exigency, no help to the affected people came from the Army, the border dwellers complained.
The Army sources said that the Pakistani troops in their latest violation of the November 2003 ceasefire agreement fired small arms and automatic weapons to target the Indian forward posts along the LoC in Nowshera belt of Rajouri from 10.40 pm on Wednesday. “They fired 82mm and 120 mm mortars towards own forward posts and civilian areas,” the sources said adding that the Indian troops responded “strongly and effectively”. However, the civilians had received bullet injuries in the firing from across the LoC and while Akhtar Bi, a resident of Pukherni village, died in a hospital later, her husband is battling for life, the officials said.
CM Mehbooba Mufti expressed grief over the death of the woman and injuries to her husband in the Pakistani firing. She asked the Rajouri district administration to provide all assistance and help to the injured in the incident.
Jammu’s Divisional Commissioner, Mandip Bhandari, along with DC of Rajouri on Thursday visited various areas affected by shelling and firing. Bhandari sanctioned immediate relief amount of Rs 110,000 as assistance to next-of-kin of the slain woman. “He convened a meeting of district officers and sub-divisional officers to take stock of rescue, evacuation and relief measures as well as preparedness for immediate action in the event of any further skirmishes along the LOC which may necessitate evacuation of civilians from border villages,” an official release said.
The villages where an alert has been sounded include Pukherni, Qila Darhal, Sarya, Khamba, Laam and Jhangar. DC Choudhary along with SSP Rajouri Yougal Manhas and other officers visited the affected villages to take stock of damages, coordinate loss assessment for compensation, planning of evacuation and required measures.
In Islamabad, Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh was summoned to the Foreign Office over what the Pakistani authorities alleged were fresh ceasefire violations on the LoC resulting into the death of one civilian and injuries to two others. The Pakistani Foreign Office said in a statement that Director General Mohammad Faisal (South Asia and Saarc Desk), summoned Singh and condemned the “unprovoked” ceasefire violation by Indian forces on the intervening night of May 10 and 11 in Tandar, Subzkot, Khuiratta, Baroh, Bagsar and Khanjar sectors. The Indian envoy was conveyed that “deliberate” targeting of civilians was condemnable and contrary to international human rights and laws. The statement said, “The deliberate targeting of civilians is indeed condemnable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws.” The Pakistani authorities identified the slain civilian as Muhammad Rizwan, a resident of village Subzkot in PoK’s Subzkot sector, and those injured as Willayat Bibi of the same village and Abdul Aziz of village Tain, in Khuiratta sector.
