Muzaffarabad, May 07 (ANI): Security personnel stand guard near Bilal Mosque after it was hit by an Indian strike in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, on Wednesday. (Reuters Video/ANI)
New Delhi [India], May 8 (ANI): Thirteen civilians lost their lives in Poonch, while a total of 59 people, 44 of them in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, sustained injuries due to ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC), the External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday.
The External Publicity and Public Diplomacy Division of the MEA provided the information.
The intense shelling by the Pakistani army along the LoC came in retaliation for the May 7 ‘Operation Sindoor’, during which India’s armed forces targeted a total of nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Pakistan has been resorting to unprovoked small-arms ceasefire since the night of April 25-26.
After Operation Sindoor, the Pakistan Army continued its series of ceasefire violations by targeting civilian areas in the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. Officials reported that the shelling caused panic among villagers and damaged several houses. Shelling by Pakistan damaged civilian infrastructure, shattered window panes, and cracked walls.
Residents in border villages in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri returned to their homes on Thursday morning after being forced to flee in panic, seeking safety during the intense shelling by Pakistan.
According to the villagers who returned, the shelling caused significant damage to residential properties, forcing people to flee their homes with their families and livestock.
“We left our homes in fear and fled during the night amid the shelling. Two buildings were damaged, and two shells hit my house. The whole village was deserted, and some people took their livestock with them,” said Sailesh Kumar, a resident of a border village in Rajouri.
Meanwhile, the Indian Army has proportionately responded to the unprovoked small-arms and artillery guns firing by the Pakistani Army across the Line of Control (LoC) during the night of May 7 and May 8, as the Pakistan Army fired in areas opposite Kupwara and Baramulla districts and Uri and Akhnoor sectors in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Indian Army is closely monitoring ceasefire violations by Pakistan following the precise strikes on nine terror infrastructure sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir under Operation Sindoor on Wednesday.
The strikes aimed to avenge the Pahalgam attack victims and eliminate key Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leaders and camps involved in planning attacks on Indian soil. (ANI)
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