Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, July 6: After a long gap, Pakistani Rangers resorted to heavy mortar shelling targeting six posts of the BSF and civilian population in villages adjacent to the posts in Arnia sector along the International Border (IB) throughout the last night damaging over a dozen houses in forward village of Jabowal and killing cattle prompting the BSF to retaliate. Over two dozen mortar shells were fired by the Rangers during the night.
Fresh mortar shelling and firing by the Rangers has sent wave of panic among the villagers of Arnia town and surrounding villages, who were witness to worst kind of shelling from June to August last year in which over dozen civilians and couple of BSF jawans were killed, scores of others injured while many houses were damaged, leading to migration by the villagers for several days.
Official sources told the Excelsior that after last night’s two ceasefire violations, the Pakistani Rangers started heavy shelling with 82mm mortar and firing with medium arms targeting six forward posts of the BSF at 12.30 am. The shelling and firing was very intense and the Rangers were directly targeting six forward BSF posts that compelled the BSF to retaliate with full force and give befitting reply to Pakistan, leading to heavy exchanges, which continued till 5 am.
Sources said Jabowal and surrounding villages along the IB in Arnia sector were pounded by the Rangers with 82mm mortars but there were no casualties of BSF or civilians in the shelling and firing. However, cattle of Krishan Lal son of Nanak Chand was killed in Jabowal as the house of Lal was hit by several bullets while a mortar shell exploded close to this house.
Over a dozen houses were damaged in Pakistan shelling and firing in Jabowal and surroundings after being hit by splinters of mortar shells, sources said, adding more than two dozen 82mm mortar shells were fired from Pakistan side overnight targeting the BSF posts and civilian population.
“The casualties or damage on Pakistan side were not known,” sources said.
The people came out of their houses only around 7 am to see the damage caused by the shelling. Senior BSF officers also visited forward posts and the villages. The Bomb Disposal Squads visited the forward villages to see that there was no live mortar shell in the civilian areas.
SHO Arnia Inspector Abid Rafiqi also visited forward villages and advised the people to remain alert during the night and while working in fields in the day.
Though there was no provocation for Pakistan firing, sources said the likely meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan Premier Nawaz Sharief could be at Russia on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit on June 10 could be one of the reasons as Pakistan Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence don’t like the relations to become normal between the two countries.
The shelling and firing has sent wave of panic among the villagers of Arnia town and surrounding border villages, who had witnessed prolonged spell of Pakistani shelling and firing almost these days last year when shells had pounded even Arnia town in which over a dozen civilians and couple of BSF jawans were killed while many others were injured. Several cattle had also perished in Pakistan firing. Almost entire population of Arnia town and villages had migrated to safer areas.
However, no migration has been reported so far from the forward villages of Arnia, sources said.
Apart from Arnia, the Rangers had last year and first week of January this year also targeted RS Pura, Samba, Ramgarh, Hiranagar, Kanachak and Pargwal sectors killing and injuring several civilians.
Dwellers in the villages along the IB in Arnia were left shell-shocked after Pakistani troops punctured residential houses with mortar bombs and bullets in a fresh overnight ceasefire violation after two similar violations with small arms last evening in the same sector.
“The firing by Pak Rangers first begun with small arms around 7 pm yesterday and later pounded our villages with mortar bombs throughout the night resulting in fear psychosis”, Baldev Ram, a villager of Arnia belt, said pointing to the scores of holes created in the houses there by blast of 82-mm mortar shells and bullets.
Showing the damage caused to his house during the firing, Ram said, “the impact of the shelling was such that the family did not sleep for a minute as they feared for their lives.”
Like him, Shamsher Singh also narrated the tale of fear and terror that the night-long shelling brought to the people there.
“The firing and shelling has come back to haunt us after a peaceful living four-five months. We feared that we have to migrate again from our border homes… That was the intensity of the shelling by Pakistan Rangers,” he said.
If the situation continued we will be forced to leave our homes and hearths, they said.
Over 170 ceasefire violations have been reported along the IB in Jammu and Kashmir this year in which two civilians and one security personnel have been killed and 19 injured.
Over 562 incidents of ceasefire violations by Pakistan in 2014, the highest since the truce came into force in 2003. As many as 410 ceasefire violations were reported along IB and 152 violations along LoC, in which 19 people, including five jawans, were killed and over 150 injured, besides scores of cattle perishing.
There were three ceasefire violations by Pakistan troops during past 12 hours along IB in Jammu sector.
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