Woman killed in Pakistani shelling in Rajouri

A 35-year-old woman was on Thursday killed and her husband injured in mortar shelling by Pakistani troops in Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district.

The shelling hit a village in Laam belt of Nowshera sector, killing Akhtar Bi and injuring her husband Mohmmad Hanief.

“The Pakistani Army fired from small arms and automatic weapons from 10:40 last night on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Nowshera belt of Rajouri district,” a defence spokesman said.

They also shelled forward posts and civilian areas using 82 mm and 120 mm mortars, he said.

“The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently on,” he said.

There have been six ceasefire violations in the month of April.

The latest incident of ceasefire violation comes after the beheading of two Indian soldiers by Pakistan’s Border Action Team on May 1.

Under the cover of heavy mortar fire, the Pakistani special forces team sneaked 250 metres across the Line of Control into the KG sector of Poonch and beheaded the
soldiers.

The home ministry has said that at least one incident of ceasefire violation by Pakistan took place daily along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir in 2015 and 2016 in which 23 security personnel lost their lives.

As many as 1,142 terror incidents were reported in the state between 2012 and 2016 in which 236 security personnel and 90 civilians were killed, it said.

According to the reply, Pakistan breached the truce along the Line of Control 449 times in 2016 as compared to 405 violations in 2015. Twenty-three security personnel were killed in the two-year period.