LoC violation: Indian Army carries out mortar shelling, firing in Poonch Sector

Pakistan Army retaliates which forces Indian side to stop shelling, firing: ISPR

ISLAMABAD: The Indian Army carried out mortar shelling and firing in the Poonch Sector on the Line of Control, according to the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), Express News reported on Friday.

The ISPR said that the Pakistan Army retaliated which forced the Indian side to stop the shelling and the firing.

This is not the first time such an incident has taken place.

The continuous violation of ceasefire agreement has terrorised locals. The two countries had agreed to a ceasefire along the LoC in November 2003, but skirmishes have often flared across the heavily-militarised LoC, the de facto border in Kashmir, with both sides blaming each other for having violated the agreement.

Previous incidents

On January 11, Indian troops had violated the ceasefire on the LoC, injuring a 55-year-old civilian in Tatapani sector, some 180 kilometres from Muzaffarabad. In retaliation, Pakistan Army personnel had also retaliated to the Indian firing, forcing them to stop the shelling on the civilian population.

On August 26 last year, unprovoked firing from the Indian Army had injured six civilians.

A day earlier, shells fired by Indian troops had struck villages in Nakyal sector, some 200 kilometres south of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Kashmir, intermittently overnight. Three houses were damaged along with a car.

On August 23 last year, the Indian Army had opened fire in the same sector, seriously injuring a civilian identified as Arif Kiyani.  The continuous bombardment had also destroyed a house in the area.