Schools near LoC closed as fire exchange leaves 5 Indian soldiers injured, 4 Pakistani civilians dead

Hours after the Indian Air Force bombed targets inside Pakistan, the ensuing heavy firefight at the Line of Control (LoC) has left at least five India Army soldiers injured whereas four civilians were killed and 11 wounded across the border on Tuesday.

Both the sides have accused each other of unprovoked fire and using heavy weaponry to target civilian areas besides claiming to have been giving “befitting reply” to the opposite side.

The five soldiers were injured in Akhnoor sector whereas two houses were damaged in Mankote sector of Poonch, last evening.

The local administration has announced that all government and private schools located within 5-km radius of the LoC shall remain closed on February 27 in Poonch, Rajouri and parts of Jammu. The ongoing exams of classes V, VI and VII scheduled for today also stand cancelled.

The Pakistani army used heavy weaponry, firing 120-mm mortar targeting civilian hamlets and forward in Krishna Gati, Balakote, Khari Karmara, Mankote, Tarkundi areas in Poonch district; Kalal, Baba Khori, Kalsian, Laam and Jhangar areas in Rajouri; and Pallanwala and Laleali sub sectors in Jammu, officials said.

Amid mounting bilateral tensions between India and Islamabad, panic has gripped the border residents and some locals have reportedly left their homes and moved to safer areas.

Across the border in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), four civilians were killed and 11 others injured in different villages along the LoC, according to media reports.

The casualties reportedly took place in Fatehpur Thakiala, Charhoti and Khuiratta tehsils in Kotli district which is said to be worst hit in the wake of ongoing exchange of fire.

“Since shelling is continuing intermittently, the casualties may go up … Once the guns fall silent we will be able to ascertain the exact details of losses,” a report in The Dawn quoted an official as saying.

Nearly two weeks after Jaish-e-Mohammed's (JeM) claimed suicide bombing at Pulwama in which more than 40 CRPF personnel were killed, the IAF conducted raids across the LoC and destroyed the JeM’s biggest training camp at Balakote.