Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 5: An Army officer, two soldiers, a civilian and a porter were injured today as Pakistan army resorted to heavy mortar shelling and small arms firing on forward posts and villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch and Rajouri districts.
A civilian Mushtaq Ahmed was tonight injured in Pakistan shelling in Digwar sector. He has been hospitilized.
While a Commanding Officer (CO) Col Aditya Singh and two Army jawans were injured in Mankote area of Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district, the 25-year-old porter suffered splinter injuries when a mortar shell exploded near him in Keri sector of Rajouri district, reports said.
However, there was no official word from the Army on injuries caused to the Commanding Officer and two Army jawans in Krishna Ghati sector.
The injured were evacuated to a hospital and their condition was stated to be “stable”, reports said.
Earlier, a Defence spokesman said Pakistan violated ceasefire by resorting to unprovoked shelling and firing from across the border in the two sectors around 11 a.m. prompting the Indian Army to give a befitting response.
The officials said the shelling was intense in both the sectors, causing panic among the people who were asked to stay indoors to avoid any casualty.
The cross-border firing stopped around 1.15 p.m. in Krishna Ghati sector, only to resume again around 3.25 p.m. till 5.15 p.m. they said.
Army porter Mohammad Mahroof, a resident of Challas village, suffered splinter injuries when a mortar shell exploded near him in Keri sector, reports said, adding he was given immediate medical aid and was later evacuated to an Army hospital.
Two residential houses were also damaged, while a few cattle perished in the Pakistani shelling which was still continuing intermittently, reports said.
The casualties suffered by Pakistan in the retaliatory action were not known immediately.
Ending over a fortnight-long lull, Pakistan on Thursday targeted Shahpur and Kirni sectors of Poonch followed by firing in Qasba sector in the same district the next day.
Ten people, including four soldiers, have been martyred and over 50 people injured in Rajouri and Poonch districts in Pakistan shelling and firing since India’s February 26 air strike on a JeM terror camp in Pakistan’s Balakote in which number of terrorists were killed in response to the Pulwama terror strike that left 44 CRPF personnel martyred.
Meanwhile, as a precautionary measure and keeping in view the safety of students, all Government and Private schools upto 10+2 level within 0-5 Km distance from the LoC in Keri sector (Education Zone Doongi) of district Rajouri will remain closed tomorrow, official sources said.
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