Shells rain in Uri, hundreds flee to safety

Migrants of Uri sector putting up in a safer area on Saturday. —Excelsior/Aabid Nabi
Migrants of Uri sector putting up in a safer area on Saturday. —Excelsior/Aabid Nabi

Artillery guns roar after 15 years

Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar/jammu, Feb 24: Shells rained in North Kashmir’s Uri sector today forcing people to flee for safety and for the first time since 2003 ceasefire, Army fired artillery to silence the Pakistani troops who fired heavily.
A senior Army officer told Excelsior that they fired artillery after intense firing from Pakistan to silence them. He said that heavy firing that started in the morning at around 11:30 a.m. continued till 4:30 p.m. He said that the recent escalation in Uri sector started after Pakistani troops were constructing bunkers and army objected them. He said that they fired at Indian troops leading to response from the army.
The shelling that stopped at 4:30 p.m. resumed intermittently from 7:30 p.m. Sources said that Pakistani troops also fired artillery and some of the shells landed in village Dakkan Nambla. The artillery firing has made other villages in Uri unsafe.
Amid the intense shelling, Pakistani troops made announcements from the public address system of the Masjid’s asking the villagers in Silikote and Churnda to flee to safer places as the situation along the LoC is bad.

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The announcements were heard by the locals near LoC after Army fired artillery first time since 2003 ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan. The artillery firing created panic in Uri as residents feared it could lead to more shelling.
SSP Baramulla, Imtiaz Hussain told Excelsior that the announcements made from the Masjid’s near the LoC in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) created panic in the villages in Uri sector. He said that Police and local administration set up a camp at Girls Higher Secondary School n Uri and sheltered 700 people there. Some people who fled from the shelling went to their relatives in nearby villages which are not affected by the shelling.
The SSP said that 7000-8000 population living in the villages of Churunda, Silikote, Mothal, Hatlanga, Shoura Balkote, and Tilawari are sufferers of the cross-LoC shelling. He said that ambulance and vehicles have been kept ready to shift other people from the LoC villages. He said that the top priority is to evacuate local population in Uri living near vulnerable areas to safer places.
A control room has been established in Uri for the affected people in the area. Due to continuous firing, some villagers are trapped in Silkote and Churanda villages.
Five residential houses were damaged in the shelling today. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported from civilian and army side.
The administration has provided blankets and bedding to the affected people and has also made arrangements for food for them.
Meanwhile, the security forces are “well geared” to fight militants in Jammu and Kashmir and would continue to work for peace and harmony in the state, a senior Army officer said today.
Lt Gen A K Bhatt, commander of Srinagar-based Chinar Corps, said this after a high-level meeting of all security agencies in Awantipora in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
The meeting was called to review intelligence gathering and operational preparedness.
“Entire Chinar Corps, which includes not just the Army but all security forces, is well geared to fight against the terrorists and would continue working towards bringing peace and harmony in the region,” Lt Gen Bhatt said.
Another Army official said officials from the security agencies interacted with an array of functional-level officers and reviewed the security situation in South Kashmir.
Pakistani troops also fired few mortar shells in Lam area of Nowshera sector in which some cattle perished.
Indian side effectively retaliated, leading to exchanges.
Shelling stopped after half an hour.
Meanwhile, PTI adds:-
Pakistan today summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh here for the fifth time in a month and condemned alleged firing across Line of Control by Indian forces.
The Pakistan Foreign Office said Director General (SA & SAARC) Mohammad Faisal summoned Singh over “unprovoked ceasefire violations” by Indian forces on Feb 23 in Nikial sector.
Faisal said the firing killed a man in ThurtiNarr village located some 1,200 meters from the LoC and three other people were injured.

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