Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 23: Entire Krishna Ghati and Mendhar sectors in Poonch district were this evening rattled with heavy mortar shelling and firing from Pakistan side, prompting Indian troops to retaliate effectively in which three to four Pakistani soldiers were reportedly killed and a couple of others were injured. Three posts of Pakistani army caught fire and reduced to ashes.
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Reports said Pakistan resorted to heavy shelling and firing in entire Krishna Ghati and parts of Mendhar sectors at 6.15 pm when the border people were returning home after day’s work. The Indian troops retaliated very effectively and launched fiercest counter action to silence the Pakistani guns, which were targeting Indian civil locations.
There were reports that at least four Pakistani troopers were killed in retaliatory action by the Indian troops in Krishna Ghati sector and couple of others were injured. Three Pakistani posts could be seen burning as they had caught fire in retaliation by India. The posts were reduced to ashes.
Reports said there were six Pakistani troops inside these three posts in which four of them were reported dead and two others injured. Ambulances could be seen ferrying dead and injured Pakistani troops to the hospitals as virtual panic was reported in the Pakistani camp after Indian Army undertook punitive action against Pakistan for targeting civilian areas in Krishna Ghati and Mendhar sectors of Poonch district.
The Indian side didn’t suffer any casualties or damages in today’s mortar shelling and firing that lasted nearly three hours.
There were reports that Pakistan army also tried to push infiltrators into the Indian territory during ceasefire violations but their attempts failed as alert troops on this side of the Line of Control (LoC) didn’t allow the militants to come close to the LoC.
Panic gripped the border villagers after Pakistani troops shelled civilian locations in Krishna Ghati and Mendhar sectors at a time when majority of the people were on way to their homes after day’s work. Some of them took shelters in the fields or nearby houses. They left for their houses only around 9 pm when the shelling and firing stopped from Pakistan side.
Reports said it had become necessary to teach Pakistan a lesson for targeting the civilian locations. Though number of mortar shells fell close to civilian locations, they exploded harmlessly.
Pakistan has been resorting to almost regular ceasefire violations on the LoC in twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch for the past one year, which has badly affected the life of civilians living under shelling and firing range.
Meanwhile, a 60-year-old shepherd was critically injured today when he accidentally stepped over a landmine near the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district, police said.
Abdul Gani lost his left foot in the blast at the Khari Karmara sector around 3.45 pm and was admitted to a hospital, a police official said.
He said the shepherd was tending his sheep and goats when he stepped over the landmine causing the explosion.
The landmines are laid along the LoC to prevent infiltration of terrorists from across the border and sometimes these get carried away due to rains.
Wide parts of Jammu and Kashmir, including Poonch, received heavy rains last week with high altitude experiencing fresh snowfall.
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