JAMMU: Five people including a child were killed and nine others injured in Pakistani shelling and firing along the International border in
Jammu, Kathua and
Samba districts on Wednesday, drawing massive public protests in the region.
Pakistan has been aggressively attacking Indian troops and civilians in villages along the border in Jammu region for the last nine consecutive days, in complete violation of the 2003 ceasefire agreement. Over 700 border skirmishes were reported this year, with more than 44 people, including 18 jawans, dead and dozens injured. The death toll in the ongoing confrontation on the border has risen to twelve including two children, leading to escalation in tension between the two hostile neighbours.
Ten-old-year Krishan Lal Sharma was playing with his older brother on Wednesday when a Pakistani mortar shell exploded inside their house in Samba sector of Jammu district. He died on the spot while his mother is being treated at a local hospital.
Two civilians were killed and six injured in the shelling and firing in Samba that started at 9 AM, a senior police officer said. One of the injured succumbed to his injuries on way to the hospital, he said. A civilian was killed in R S Pura sector and another who injured in
Arnia sector later succumbed to his injuries.
A wife of an
Army jawan and their two-year-old son and daughter were preparing to flee their home when a shell ripped through the roof and exploded in their bedroom. They including eight others were moved to GMC hospital for splinter and other serious injuries on Wednesday. Over 50 shelling victims were moved to the hospital in the last one week, hospital sources said. Yesterday, 20 civilians were injured in Pakistani shelling.
A senior
BSF official said Pakistani Rangers suffered several casualties too.
Infuriated by the civilian casualties, villagers in Samba, Kathua and Jammu lashed out at the
BJP government. Many complained that the government had failed to provide community and family bunkers which were promised to them. The border residents protested before the BJP MLA Kuldeep Raj who had gone to see the injured in the hospital.
Due to unrelenting shelling and firing, schools have been shut down and villagers and cattle evacuated, bringing a complete halt to the farming and normal life in the border villages. A police officer said over 100 border dwellers had been evacuated on Wednesday. Over 500 people are lodged at camps set up in educational institutions and other government buildings in border villages, he said.