Arteev Sharma & DK Sudan

Tribune News Service

Jammu/Poonch, October 3

The Pakistan army today again violated the ceasefire at three places along the Line of Control (LoC) by resorting to unprovoked heavy shelling and firing on forward villages in Poonch district, resulting in injuries to five persons, including four women.Pakistani troops targeted seven-eight forward villages along the LoC, with 82 mm and 120 mm mortars, and heavy machine guns, forcing villagers to run for shelter.The intense shelling and firing comes against the backdrop of an unsuccessful “fidayeen” attack in Baramulla last night and the two-day visit of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to Ladakh beginning today.Sources said the Pakistani troops violated the truce between the two countries in Shahpur and Saujian sectors along the LoC in Poonch.“The Pakistan army targeted Kranti post in Krishna Ghati sector at 1 am and firing continued till 1.45 am. Our troops gave a calibrated response,” sources said. Pakistan troops again violated ceasefire at Shahpur and Saujian sectors along the LoC in Poonch in which three civilians, including two women, were injured.In the Shahpur sector, Pakistan troops resorted to heavy shelling and machine gun fire at 10.45 am. The firing continued till late this evening. Another ceasefire violation was reported at the Saujian sector. The firing started at 11.20 am. Heavy loss to civilian property has been reported in the shelling. However, there was no report of casualties on either side.“Five persons received splinter injuries after a shell from across the LoC exploded in Qasba and Gagrian villages of Shahpur sector. A woman Special Police Officer was also among the injured. She had gone to meet her relatives in Qasba,” sources said.The injured were identified as Ghulam Hussain and Raseela Bi, both residents of Qasba village, Uzma Bi (18) and Haneefa Akhtar (17), both residents of Gagrian village, and woman SPO Shah Begum. The injured were shifted to Poonch district hospital.The shelling from Pakistan side also created among the people in Gali Maidan area of Saujian sector after some containers filled with kerosene caught fire at a joint base camp of the BSF and the Army. “Some civilians were injured in the firing along the LoC as Pakistani troops targeted forward villages in Saujian and Shahpur sectors,” Mohammad Harun Malik, Deputy Commissioner, Poonch, said. The administration had asked civilians to move to safer places, he added.In the Gali Maidan area of Saujian sector, some kerosene containers caught fire after a shell exploded near the joint Army-BSF camp there. The Deputy Commissioner said some shops, mainly kiosks, outside the joint Army-BSF camp were gutted after the kerosene containers caught fire. While sources put the number of damaged shops at 11, the DC said the exact number was yet to be ascertained. “We have sent a naib tehsildar and the SHO concerned for assessment of loss to the shops,” he said.

BSF fires in Gurdaspur

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Dorangla (Gurdaspur), Oct 3

Border Security Force jawans fired in the air after noticing some suspicious movement across the barbed wire fencing near the BSF Chakri post late last night, igniting rumours that an “intrusion bid” had been foiled.Sources said the firing, which went on for a couple of minutes, started around 10.45 pm after the troopers, using handheld thermal imagers (HHTI), noticed “some suspicious movement” near the international border. “It could be related to some animals grazing across the border or a group of people,” said a Punjab Police officer. Senior BSF officers remained tightlipped and steadfastly refused to comment on the incident.There was no cross-border firing and whatever shot were fired were from the BSF side. An officer, who was engaged in the firing,said: “All I can say is that our jawans fired after we suspected some movement.” Hours later, Gurdaspur DC Pardeep Sabharwal convened a meeting of BSF and police officers to take stock of the situation. Later, a high-level meeting of officials of the Army, RAW, IB and the police was held. The Punjab Police launched a search operation in the morning near the Chakri picket.