Heavy firing from Pak along LoC injures soldier

A soldier was injured on Tuesday as Pakistan resorted to heavy mortar shelling and firing from small arms on forwarding posts and villages at three places along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. 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, prompting the Indian Army to retaliate, a defence spokesman said.

Official sources said a sepoy, guarding a forward post in Kalal area of Nowshera sector, suffered a bullet injury in the firing from across the border and was subsequently admitted to a hospital. The defence spokesman said Pakistani troopers first targeted forward posts and villages in Nowshera around 11:30 am and the cross-border skirmishes continued for some time.

Pakistani army also initiated shelling with mortars and small arms in the Krishna Ghati sector around 6 pm, the spokesman said. He said at 10:30 pm ceasefire violation was reported from the Sunderbani sector. Pakistan has resorted to heavy mortar shelling and firing from small arms, the spokesman said.

Cross-border shelling has not stopped according to last reports, he said, adding that this is the third ceasefire violation by Pakistan on Tuesday. He said the Indian Army retaliated strongly but the casualties on the Pakistani side could not be known immediately.

There has been a spurt in ceasefire violation by Pakistan after India's air strike at a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist camp in Balakot on February 26 in a preemptive action following the February 14 suicide bombing in Pulwama in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. Four civilians, including three members of a family, were killed and several others injured in over 60 ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC last week.

(With inputs from agencies.)