8 Pak army jawans killed amid heavy shelling on LoC

A mortar shell lands in a forward village of Nowshera sector on Monday.
A mortar shell lands in a forward village of Nowshera sector on Monday.

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Apr 17: Eight Pakistani army jawans were reported killed when troops from this side retaliated to unprovoked heavy shelling and firing from across the Line of Control (LoC) in several areas of Nowshera sector in Rajouri district today.
Reports said eight Pakistan troopers were killed after their post was hit by a mortar shell across Nowshera sector this morning. However, there was no official confirmation of the Pakistani casualties.
Two Army jawans on this side sustained minor injuries.
Official sources said all schools along LoC in Nowshera sector were closed down this morning as soon as Pakistan army resorted to heavy mortar shelling and firing at Lam, Jhanghar, Kalsian and Kallal sectors of Nowshera tehsil in Rajouri district at 8 am today.
Troops from this side retaliated effectively, leading to heavy exchanges. Both sides used 82mm mortars, automatic and semi-automatic weapons in shelling and firing. Pakistan army targeted several civilian areas in the shelling.
Sources said there were reports of some cattle having perished in the shelling and damage to many houses. However, they couldn’t be corroborated as official teams were yet to reach the spot in view of shelling that continued throughout the day today.
“The official teams were expected to reach the forward villages tomorrow morning to assess the damages caused by shelling and firing,” sources said.
They added that several mortar shells landed in the civilian areas but there were no casualties on the Indian side. The panic-stricken civilians remained confined to their houses throughout the day in view of intense shelling.
According to sources, intensity of mortar shelling and firing with automatic weapons was very high from 8 am to 3 pm after which it came down to intermittent till 5.30 pm. The shelling and firing stopped in the night.
Describing Pakistan shelling and firing as unprovoked, sources said Pakistan was trying to create trouble on the LoC by repeatedly targeting forward Indian posts and civilian areas in twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch.
This is the sixth ceasefire violation this month.
On April 8, Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir by resorting to firing on forward posts.
On April 5, ceasefire violation took place along the LoC in Poonch district.
On April 4, Pakistani army fired mortar shells on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Bhimbher Gali sector of Rajouri district.
On April 3, Pakistani troops had shelled mortar bombs on forward posts in Balakote sector of Rajouri district.
In the second ceasefire violation on April 3, Pakistani troops had shelled Indian posts along the LoC in Digwar area in Poonch sector.
In the same area, a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), Naib Subedar S Sanayaima Som, was killed in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast along the LoC in Poonch sector on April 1.
There were four violations of the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch in March.
On March 9, Army jawan Deepak Jagannath Ghadge was killed when Pakistani soldiers initiated indiscriminate and unprovoked firing along the LoC in Poonch.
In 2016 there were 228 instances of ceasefire violation along the LoC, while there were 221 instances of ceasefire violation along the International Border (IB).

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