100 civilians shifted to safer places after Uri cross-border shelling

SRINAGAR: About 100 civilians living near the border were shifted to safer places after Pakistan resorted to unprovoked cross-border shelling in Uri sector of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Thursday.
Sources said Pakistan targeted forward posts and civilian areas at Hatlanga, Churanda and Tika along the Line of Control (LoC) around 8am, to which Indian troops retaliated. The firefight continued till late in the evening and several houses were immensely damaged in the exchange, the intensity of which prompted authorities to move people living near the borders to safer regions.

Baramulla deputy commissioner Nissar Ahmad Naqash said, “About 25 families from border areas of Silikote and Balakote — comprising around 100 people — were moved to a school building, and provided with food and water. Some of them, however, opted to put up with their relatives.” Some residents had deserted their homes out of fear even before the evacuation process, Naqash added.

Uri SDPO Javed Ahmad Shah said, “We’ve kept several vehicles ready to evacuate people from the affected areas and prepared ambulances in case of an emergency.” No casualty or injury has been reported so far, while the situation is tense along the border, an official said.