BEINGALLAR (Samba): Amid growing tension between the two neighbouring countries, Pakistan violated ceasefire once again on Saturday and resorted to heavy mortar shelling, killing two Indian jawans and one civilian woman in the past twelve hours in the Tanghdar sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
Indian authorities have begun evacuation of civilians from villages near LoC, fearing more casualty as Pakistan continued heavy and indiscriminate firing at Indian side despite warnings by Indian Ministers and defence officials.
Pakistan had summoned a top Indian diplomat in Islamabad on Friday and registered strong protest against killing of three Pakistani majors. Pakistan Foreign Secretary had said Indian BSF soldiers fired at an unsuspecting team Pakistan Rangers in a breach of trust while BSF said they were only retaliating to unprovoked ceasefire violations by Pakistan Rangers. Pakistan demanded immediate investigation into the incident and warned India that its soldiers know how to respond to such attacks.
In India, Union Ministers had praised BSF for foiling infiltration bid by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists into Indian side with support of Pakistan Rangers who resorted to heavy firing to engage the BSF personnel so that the mercenaries can sneak into Indian territory. Pakistan has been violating ceasefire and doing heavy artillery firing frequently since four months. After repeated failure on infiltration bid, the Pakistan Ranger jawans now target civilians and villages near the LoC strategically.
However, Indian government has asked BSF for befitting reply if Pakistan refused to learn and continued unprovoked firing. Two BSF jawans and an woman were killed and eight other civilians were injured as Pakistani troops targeted villages and 13 border outposts with heavy mortar shelling in Kathua and Samba districts in 12 hours.
Over 1000 people have been evacuated from hamlets in Kathua and Samba districts, officials said.
