Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 30: An Army jawan was injured as Pakistan Army violated ceasefire at three places on the Line of Control (LoC) at Pallanwalla in Akhnoor sector and Sabjian and Hamirpur in Poonch since last night even as Army and police continued searches for suspected militants in Manjakote sector of Rajouri district.
Official sources said Pakistan Army resumed firing at forward village Bhadwal in Pallanwalla sector at 3.30 am in the wee hours of today. Prior to this, Pakistan had opened firing at the same from 10.30 pm to 11.40 pm last night.
Indian Army retaliated. Fresh exchange of firing at Pallanwalla this morning lasted about an hour.
An Army jawan Amit Singh of 28 Rajput Rifles was injured in the firing. He was evacuated from the spot and admitted to hospital.
It was after a long gap that Pakistan Army has opened firing in Pallanwalla sector. The firing by Pakistani troops in Pallanwalla has spread panic among the border villagers as they feared fresh migration from the area.
Meanwhile, after a lull of three days, Pakistan Army last night opened firing in Sabjian sector of Poonch district at 9.50 pm last night prompting Indian side to retaliate effectively. The exchange of firing continued till 12.10 am.
Heavy fire arms were used in the firing from both sides.
In Hamirpur sector of Poonch district, Pakistan Army started firing at 5 am that continued till 8.15 am. Troops from this side retaliated with equal caliber of weapons, leading to exchanges.
No casualties or damage was reported on the Indian side in Pakistan firing, sources said.
There was no firing or ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the LoC from 3.15 pm on August 27 to 10.30 pm on August 29.
Pakistani troops had violated the ceasefire on August 27 by firing on Indian posts along LoC in Bhimber Gali sub-sector of Poonch district.
There has been almost daily firing and mortar shelling by Pakistani Army in the Poonch-Rajouri sector since August 6 with a total of over 43 ceasefire violations recorded this month.
Six jawans—five from Army and one from BSF have been killed and 10 civilians injured in ceasefire violations and firing by Pakistan troops on forward posts, civilian areas and patrolling parties along the LoC and International Border in Jammu sector this month.
Army and police, meanwhile, continued searches in Manjakote sector in search of suspected militants, who might have infiltrated into this side as reported to them by the local people. However, no contact has been established with the militants so far.
Meanwhile, latest reports revealed that recent flash floods triggered by heavy rains have damaged eight Border Out Posts (BOPs) and border fencing along the Indo-Pak border in Jammu.
Due to flash floods, eight BOPs in different forward areas of International Border (IB) in Jammu frontier area have suffered damages, sources said.
While 2-3 posts, one Observation Tower and other security infrastructure have been washed away in flash floods, 5 other posts have suffered damages in Kathua, Samba and Jammu districts due to flash floods last fortnight, they said.
Besides this, 700-800 meters of border fencing in riverine belts in different areas of IB in Jammu frontier area have also been damaged.
The Border Security Force (BSF) will undertake repair and re-construction of BOPs and border fencing soon after the threat of flash floods comes down, sources said.
The troops guarding the borderline are keeping a close watch on the three-tier border fencing areas in view of the threat of infiltration from across the border, he said.
Last year, BSF troops had repaired and re-constructed over 500 meters of long fencing patches along Indo-Pak border in Samba district which were damaged by the torrential rains and flash floods.
Follow our WhatsApp channel