Minor among 5 killed in Pak shelling; 80,000 flee homes in Jammu, 3,000 moved to relief camps

JAMMU: Five people, including a child, were killed and nine others injured in Pakistani shelling and firing along the International Border (IB) in Jammu, Kathua and Samba districts on Wednesday, drawing massive public protests in the region. Unrelenting shelling by Pakistan has forced at least 80,000 villagers from three districts to flee their homes. At least 3,000 of them have been accommodated in relief camps.

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 toll in the ongoing confrontation on the border has risen to 12, including two children, leading to escalation in tension between the two hostile neighbours.

Ten-year-old Krishan Lal Sharma was playing with his elder brother on Wednesday when a Pakistani mortar shell exploded inside their house in Samba sector of Jammu. He died on the spot.


Rangers too badly hit, claims BSF
He died on the spot while his mother is being treated at a hospital. Two civilians were killed and six injured in the shelling and firing in Samba that started at 9am, a senior police officer said. One of the injured succumbed to his injuries on way to hospital, he said. A civilian was killed in R S Pura sector and another who was 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. The family including eight others were moved to GMC hospital for serious injuries on Wednesday. Over 50 shelling victims were moved to hospital in the last one week, hospital sources said. On Tuesday, 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 BJP MLA Kuldeep Raj, who had gone to see the injured in the hospital.

Jammu divisional commissioner Hemant Kumar Sharma said, “Around 80,000 people affected due to border firing have migrated to safer areas. Most of them have gone to their relatives’ houses while 3,000 are staying at 15 relief camps set up by the administration. They are being provided boarding and lodging.”