Raj Kumar Thapa, additional district development commissioner, Rajouri, and his two staff members were seriously injured when an artillery shell hit his official residence in Rajouri town, the officials said.
Land sinking in a village in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district has damaged about 50 structures, mostly residential houses. A minister has assured relief and rehabilitation.
Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expresses dwindling hope for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, citing delays and governance challenges in the Union Territory setup.
A total of 26 Army personnel, including three officers and five paratroopers, and seven civilians have been killed in eight terror attacks since October 11, 2021 in the twin districts.
A cloudburst in a remote village in Kathua district, Jammu and Kashmir, resulted in four fatalities and six injuries. Rescue operations are underway, and the district administration is monitoring the situation.
A mysterious illness has claimed 17 lives in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, with the latest victim being a young girl named Yasmeen Kousar. The deaths have sparked concern and an inter-ministerial team has been sent to investigate the cause. The patients experienced symptoms such as fever, pain, nausea, and loss of consciousness before dying within days of hospitalization. The J&K government has ruled out a communicable disease of bacterial or viral origin.
The officials identified the deceased as Ashwani Sharma (24), his brother Dwarka Nath (55), niece Virta Devi (26) and their guest Om Raj (38), a resident of Banshara in Rajgarh. The rescuers are searching for Sharma's sister-in-law, Bidya Devi (55).
The officials said dozens of unexploded explosives were destroyed by the experts along the Line of Control in Rajouri and Poonch districts and along the International Border in Jammu and Samba which witnessed intense cross-border shelling and drone attacks from May 7 to May 10.
Security agencies are concerned about the increasing use of drones by terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir for surveillance and logistics, replacing human networks.
In view of the 'unidentified illness' in Rajouri's Badhal village, the village has been declared a containment zone, and the affected families' homes sealed; a few patients brought to Government Medical College (GMC) in Rajouri on Thursday.
The casualties were reported hours before India and Pakistan agreed to end hostilities, which soared after the Indian Armed Forces hit terror launchpads in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir earlier this week in response to the Pahalgam attack.
Official sources said mobile Internet services were suspended both in Poonch and Rajouri districts as a precautionary measure to check rumour-mongering and prevent miscreants from creating any law and order problem.
Relentless heavy rain led to a landslide on the route to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop the Trikuta hill on Tuesday afternoon, killing at least five people and injuring 14, officials said.
Rescue operations continue in Kishtwar, J&K, following a devastating cloudburst. Anxious relatives cling to fading hope as the search for the missing enters its third day.
A police officer and his eight siblings, including five sisters, were deported to Pakistan on Wednesday despite a court order granting them temporary relief. The nine members of the extended family, who have been living in Jammu and Kashmir for generations, were among more than two dozen people, mostly from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), who were served deportation notices following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. The deportation has sparked outrage, with protests and appeals for intervention from the home minister and lieutenant governor. The family members claim they are not Pakistani nationals and have been living in the region for generations, presenting revenue records to support their claims. The court has ordered a detailed report on the case within two weeks and will hear it again on May 20.
This marked the sixth consecutive night of ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC, amidst heightened tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad following a recent terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22.
A five-member team of experts from AIIMS Delhi, including specialists in toxicology, is investigating a mysterious illness that has claimed 17 lives in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district. The team has spoken to 11 patients undergoing treatment and will collect samples from affected homes and surrounding areas to determine the cause of toxicity. Meanwhile, no new cases have been reported in the past nine days, and the village has been declared a containment zone with strict measures in place to prevent further spread.
The state health department teams are conducting door-to-door surveillance in Badhal village, and the medical teams present in the district are monitoring the situation closely. The Medical experts have advised residents not to panic.
Over 2.5 million voters will decide the fate of 239 candidates in the fray for 26 Jammu and Kashmir assembly seats in the second phase of the election to be held in the Union territory on Wednesday.
Shah is scheduled to meet the families of twin terror attack victims in Rajouri district, officials said.
From using lavender in traditional Dogri embroidery to making essential oils, beauty products and food syrups infused with this flowering plant, Bhaderwah, once known for its maize fields, is embracing lavender to bring about an economic transformation to their small town.
Hundreds of residents along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir were evacuated to safer zones after Pakistani shelling following Indian airstrikes on terror targets in Pakistan. The shelling killed 12 people, including four children and two women, and injured over 50. The evacuations come amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that left 26 civilians dead. The government has provided temporary shelter for those evacuated.
Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday asked border villages residents, who were evacuated to safer places in view of cross border shelling by Pakistan, not to rush back to homes as they are yet to sanitise and clear these areas of any unexplored shells.
The Indian government has dismissed claims of a suicide attack on an Army brigade in Jammu and Kashmir and a drone attack in Punjab as "fake news." The Press Information Bureau's Fact Check Unit found the claims to be false and attributed the spread of disinformation to coordinated efforts by certain social media handles and mainstream media in Pakistan. The government urged citizens to rely on verified sources and refrain from sharing unverified content.
Jammu and Kashmir Bharatiya Janata Party chief Ravinder Raina is going to miss voting for his party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as the party has not fielded any candidate from his home town which falls in Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency.
The Udhampur-based northern command is committed to eliminate the scourge of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, the Army said on Tuesday, as it paid tribute to four soldiers who died in a gunfight with heavily armed terrorists in Doda district.
Jammu and Kashmir is facing a severe water crisis this year due to a massive rainfall deficit. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has expressed concern about the situation and called for a proactive approach towards water management and conservation. The state has witnessed an 80% deficit in rainfall this year, raising the possibility of drought in the valley this summer. Several water bodies are flowing below the zero level mark, and some springs in south Kashmir have dried up completely. The water level in Jhelum and other major streams is alarmingly low.
Pakistani troops continued unprovoked small arms firing in different sectors along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir for the 10th consecutive night, prompting effective retaliation by the Indian army. The ceasefire violations, which started after the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, were reported from eight places across five districts in the Union Territory during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. Indian Army responded promptly and proportionately to the unprovoked firing, a defence spokesperson said.
The local recruitment of terrorists in the Pakistan-sponsored terror groups is also very low as only four locals have joined these groups this year, Army officials told ANI.
Pakistan troops have violated the ceasefire agreement for the 11th consecutive night, firing on Indian posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. The firing began in Kupwara and Baramulla districts and spread to other sectors, including Poonch, Rajouri, Mendhar, Naushera, Sunderbani, and Akhnoor. The Indian Army responded promptly and proportionately. The ceasefire violation comes despite a recent phone call between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan on April 29. This marks the latest escalation of tensions between the two countries, following a terror attack in Pahalgam in April.
Security forces on Tuesday continued the cordon and search operation in the Dhangri village area for the third consecutive day to trace the attackers.
Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP accused National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah of leaving them "no option".
The Congress was fighting the elections in a pre-poll alliance with National Conference and had fielded 32 candidates, mostly in Jammu region, compared to 51 by the regional party.
Emotional scenes were witnessed across the country as the last rites of those killed in shelling by Pakistan during the recent military conflict with India were performed on Sunday.
He said that the army has tried to neutralise foreign terrorists along the Line of Control in Rajouri and Poonch.
The first phase of polling, held on September 18, saw an estimated 61.38 per cent voter turnout, while the final phase is set to take place on October 1 in the crucial elections being held after 10 years.
Two terrorists, including a top Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT) commander trained in Afghanistan, were killed in a gunfight with security forces on Thursday in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, officials said.
Nine people including three women were killed and 33 injured as a bus carrying pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh and Delhi plunged into a deep gorge after an ambush by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district on Sunday evening, police said, as political leaders cutting across party lines strongly condemn the dastardly attack.
Terrorists struck at two places in Kashmir on Saturday night, killing a former sarpanch in Shopian and injuring a tourist couple from Rajasthan in Anantnag, two days ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Baramulla.
The Army on Friday said the search operation in the forest area of Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri to flush out any hiding terrorists was still underway, a day after two foreign terrorists of proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit including the mastermind behind various attacks were eliminated.
