There have been no reports of ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the Line of Control in Poonch and Rajouri districts of Jammu and Kashmir since Saturday night, even as the Army has been put on high alert, officials said.
Barring a violation in the Nowshera sector of Rajouri district from half past noon to 2.30 p.m. on Saturday, there had been no reports of firing in the rest of the sectors since 11 p.m. on Friday, they said. “There was no report of firing and shelling by Pakistan along the LoC overnight ... The Army is on high alert,” a defence spokesperson said.
The cross-border shelling intensified after Indian fighter jets targeted a Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp at Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday, 12 days after the outfit claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that killed 40 CRPF soldiers in Kashmir. The Pakistan Army had targeted more than 80 villages in over 50 ceasefire violations in Rajouri and Poonch districts alone since last Tuesday. The shelling killed four civilians — three of them from a family — and injured several others.
The let-up in shelling was a relief to the border residents after many families moved to safer places.
The Chief of the Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat, visited the Jammu-based White Knight Corps on Saturday to review the operational preparedness and urged all soldiers to remain vigilant.