One person was killed and seven others injured after Afghan forces allegedly carried out mortar shelling on civilian areas near the Afghanistan border in northwestern Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
At least 27 mortar shells of the 1971 Indo-Pak war period were found in West Tripura district on Thursday, police said.
According to a statement from Colonel Dushyant Singh Chauhan, the administrative commandant of Danapur Cantonment on the outskirts of the state capital, 'no clearance' was given for mortar firing at the Deuri Dumri firing range in Gaya.
At least two persons were killed and four others injured in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district as a mortar shell, reportedly carried by the floodwaters of Teesta river, exploded, police said on Friday.
The Pakistani troops were seen firing mortars and missiles from civilian houses, using villagers as human shields. The Pakistani army used heavy weaponry, firing 120-mm mortar targeting civilian hamlets.
Pakistani Rangers on Wednesday indulged in mortar shelling along the border in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, drawing retaliation from the Border Security Force.
Security forces launched a massive assault with mortar shells to flush out terrorists responsible for the killing of four personnel from a hilly forest in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on Saturday, officials said.
India and Pakistan on Saturday traded accusations of violating ceasefire along the border area.
Pakistan's military operation against the Afghan Taliban has reportedly resulted in significant casualties and destruction of infrastructure along the border, prompting calls for de-escalation from the UN.
People along the Line of Control and International Border in the Jammu region continue to live under the shadow of death, with unexploded mortar shells fired by Pakistani troops still embedded in farmlands and residential areas even though hostilities have stopped for nearly a week. IMAGE: Kindly note that this image has been posted for representational purposes only. Photograph: / Rediff.com Despite the May 10 understanding between India and Pakistan, locals describe the border areas as a 'death trap'. Sixty-two-year-old Balvinder Singh, who returned to his home in Pargwal sector on May 14, recounted a narrow escape. "Two shells exploded in our compound, damaging our house. Three more landed on our farmland. We were terrified and told our family to stay away from the fields until the Army could help," Singh told PTI. Army engineers later came to the village and safely defused the unexploded shells, bringing a temporary sense of relief. "Fear is writ large on the faces of people to these death traps in border hamlets", he said. Scenes of destruction are evident rooftops torn apart, broken houses, windows punctured by shrapnel, and carcasses of cattle lying in pools of blood. The acrid smell of gunpowder still lingers in the air. Sardar Gurmeet Singh faced a similar ordeal. His family could not re-enter their home as a live mortar shell had sunk into the compound in a village close to the International Border. "The army's bomb disposal squad removed it after four days, allowing us to finally enter, back home," he said. Indian Army engineers have launched a sweeping clearance operation across border districts, defusing over 80 unexploded shells in the past five days -- including 6 in Pargwal, 19 in Rajouri, 42 in Poonch, and 12 along the IB. "These shells, mostly 120 mm calibre, have a range of 15 to 30 km and pose a serious threat to both civilian and military targets," an Army officer said. "Many of them were fired by Pakistan during recent hostilities." On May 7, the Indian Army launched Operation Sindoor, conducting precision strikes on nine terror hubs in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) in response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people, most of them tourists. The subsequent retaliation by Pakistan pushed the region to the brink of war. From 7 to 10 of May, 27 civilians were killed and over 70 injured in Pakistani shelling in the Jammu region. Farid Din Gujjar, a resident near the border, expressed fear about returning to his fields. "Several shells created deep craters in our paddy land. We cannot resume work until all unexploded ordnance is cleared. It's a death trap," he said. Army units, in coordination with Jammu and Kashmir Police, have evacuated high-risk zones and issued stern warnings to residents not to touch any suspicious objects or unexploded shells. In one major operation, 42 live shells were safely destroyed in the Poonch villages of Jhullas, Salotri, Dharati and Salani. "All safety protocols were followed. The shells posed a serious danger to local lives," an Army spokesperson said, calling the effort a 'continued commitment to protect civilians and restore normalcy'. Poonch saw the vast majority of deaths due to shelling. Security officials said that Pakistan used a mix of mortar shells, armed drones, and missiles during the shelling spree, specifically targeting civilian habitations and border towns in Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Rajouri, and Poonch. As clearance operations continue, the border residents are slowly returning to their homes, but with caution, fear, and lingering uncertainty about shelling that may yet happen in the future.
The BSF said the force was retaliating with "pinpointed" fire which destroyed firing positions, mortar launching pads and ammunition and fuel dumps of the Pakistan Rangers at multiple places.
Heavy Pakistani shelling in the border district of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir left nine people dead and 28 injured. The shelling, described by residents and officials as "barbaric and cowardly", started around 2 am, damaging dozens of residential houses, shops, vehicles, and heritage sites. The incident comes after India launched "Operation Sindoor" in retaliation to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. India condemned the act, calling it a cowardly attack on civilians, and reaffirmed that civilian safety remains its top priority.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Pakistan Army continued shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in four sectors of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting a befitting response by the Indian Army, officials said on Thursday. The intensity of cross-border firing was less than Wednesday, when Pakistan Army carried out one of the most intense artillery and mortar shelling in years targeting the forward villages in J-K following missile strikes by India as part of 'Operation Sindoor'.
Among the medal winners are a deputy commandant rank officer, two assistant commandants and an inspector.
The landmine exploded when the troops were patrolling in a forward area in Digwar sector this afternoon, the officials said.
"Around 3:30 am Pakistan troops opened small arms fire and then switched to machine gun fire. Subsequently they started firing mortars at Darkote, Platan and Channi Dewanu posts of the Indian army," a police officer from Khour police station was quoted as saying.
In a post on X, the additional directorate general of public information posted: "Pakistan again violates the Ceasefire Agreement by firing artillery in Bhimber Gali in the Poonch-Rajouri area. Indian Army is responding appropriately in a calibrated manner."
The worst-hit in the Pakistani shelling was Poonch district which accounted for all the civilian deaths, the officials said, adding 28 persons were also injured and the condition of some of them was stated to be critical.
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 condition of the injured is stated to be stable, the officials said.
Pakistan's drone strikes and mortar shelling targeted six locations in Jammu, including the densely populated Rehari Colony, leaving one person injured and causing widespread damage. Residents described scenes of devastation and expressed fear, while others voiced defiance and called for action against Pakistan. The attacks, which occurred early Saturday, have been condemned by Jammu and Kashmir's Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as the "worst targeting of civilians in Jammu city since 1971."
"Bangladesh does want war," home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told reporters in Dhaka when asked for comments on the Myanmar security forces actions on the borders, frightening both Bangladeshis and Rohingyas who took refuge in makeshift camps in the neighbourhood.
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.
A series of blasts took place in Srinagar city as the security agencies brought down a drone that was seen hovering over Batwara area of the city, close to an army installation, officials said.
With respect and gratitude we honour the memory of soldiers who sacrificed their lives in Operation Sindoor.
Pakistani forces resorted to intermittent firing of mortar shells in Jhangarh area of Nowshera sector in Rajouri district for 45 minutes from 0640 hours, defence spokesman Lt Col S D Goswami told PTI in Jammu.
Two BSF personnel and a woman were injured on Thursday, October 26, 2023 night when Pakistani Rangers started firing at the International Border in the Arnia and RS Pura sectors of Jammu district.
The latest shelling from across the border started in the Qasba and Kirni sectors along the LoC in Poonch district at 1.40 pm, prompting a befitting retaliation by the Indian Army, a defence spokesperson said.
In continued ceasefire violations, Pakistani troops resorted to night-long firing and mortar shelling targeting six Border Out Posts along the Indo-Pak border in Jammu district, forcing the Border Security Force to retaliate effectively.
While the elderly woman was killed in heavy shelling by Pakistan in Poonch district of the Jammu region, two civilians were injured in Tangdhar sector of north Kashmir's Kupwara district, they said.
Pakistani Rangers on Thursday indulged in heavy firing and mortar shelling on five border outposts and some villages in Jammu district which left four persons injured, a day after a woman was killed in the ceasefire violations prompting India to lodge protest with Pakistan.
Pakistani troops extended greetings and exchanged sweets with Indian soldiers in two sectors along the Line of Control on Republic Day on Tuesday even as there were ceasefire violations by Pakistan border guards along the frontier in Jammu and Kashmir.
Blood splattered compounds, smashed window panes and demolished roofs are all that are left of houses in border hamlets which have been battered in Pakistani shelling in the last four days. A smell of gunpowder lingers in these villages whose residents are living in increasing fear. In all, 12 people, including five security personnel, have been killed and over 60 others injured in Pakistani firing from across the border in Jammu since Thursday.
There have been 21 ceasefire violations along the Indo-Pak border in Jammu region in August
Pakistani troops have been firing at Indian posts in the Arnia and RS Pura sectors along the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir in what is the third ceasefire violation in the last 24 hours.
The unprovoked firing from across the border took place in the Nowshera and Sunderbani sectors in Rajouri district and the Krishna Ghati sector in Poonch district.
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