Five civilians injured in Pakistani firing at Poonch, J&K

Five civilians, including a woman and two minor boys, were injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir today, officials said.

The Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked and indiscriminate firing from light to heavy weapons for nearly 45 minutes, targeting forward posts and villages in the Shahpur sector around 6 pm, they said.

"Five persons received splinter injuries in the cross LoC firing and shelling by Pakistani troops. Two of them are undergoing treatment at district hospital,” District Development Commissioner, Poonch, Tariq Ahmad Zargar told PTI.Zargar, who visited the injured in the hospital, said their condition was stable.

The injured have been identified as Jameel Ahmad (45), Parvaiza Akhtar (20), Mohammad Safir (10) of Bandichichi, Javaid Hussain (24) and Mohammad Qasim (14) of Kaswa village, a police official said.

The injured were given first aid locally and then sent to a district hospital, he said.

The official said the troops guarding the LoC retaliated to silence the Pakistani guns and the exchange of fire caused panic among the border residents.This is the first ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Poonch sector after senior army commanders from both sides held a flag meeting at the



LoC on August 24 in an attempt to de-escalate tension.

However, there has been firing from across the international border in the Jammu area in recent days.The latest violation comes barely a day after the Border Security Force (BSF) said it had killed at least three Pakistani rangers after the other side indulged in unprovoked firing along the Indo-Pak border in the Pargwal area of Jammu.

"The situation along the international border in Jammu was peaceful today and no violence was reported," a BSF officer said.

BSF constable K K Appa Rao was hit by a sniper in the nearby RS Pora sector on Friday when the Pakistani side took a direct aim at him while he was drinking water.

The two border guarding forces, had on July 17, held a commandant-level flag meeting in the Samba sector and "committed" themselves to maintaining peace.

In the flag meeting, the two sides had agreed to re-energise instant communication between field commanders to resolve petty matters.

Incidents of ceasefire violation by Pakistan have risen sharply this year.

Till August 1, there were 285 such violations by the Pakistani army, while in 2016, the number was significantly lower at 228 for the entire year, Army figures said.