JAMMU:
Pakistani Rangers resorted to unprovoked mortar shelling and small arms fire along the international border on Monday, injuring a policeman and a civilian in Jammu-Kashmir’s Aria sector, a day after the Border Security Force claimed that their counterparts “pleaded” with them to stop firing.
Identifying the injured as Darshna Devi and Gurcharan Singh, a Special Police Officer, sources said that both have been rushed to the hospital. The unprovoked mortar shelling started in the morning, with Pakistani Rangers firing 80 my and 120 my mortars on civilian areas. In view of the firing, there was panic in the area with people staying indoors.
Significantly, on Sunday, a security forces spokesperson said: “Rangers had called up Jammu BSF formation and beseeched to stop firing.” He added that “for last three days, the precision fire of BSF troopers on Pak firing locations inflicted heavy loss to them”.
On Saturday, one Ranger was killed in the firing by BSF troopers in the Chicken Neck area, the spokesperson said. To support its point, BSF also released a 19-second footage of the thermal imagery showing large-scale destruction of Pakistani pickets across the border.
Since Tuesday, two BSF personnel and four civilians have been killed in unprovoked mortar shelling and small arms fire by Pakistani Rangers along the international border from Hiranagar to R S Pura sectors. Five people, including a BSF personnel, were killed and ten others injured in firing from across the border in Arnia and R S Pura sectors on Friday.
With this, the number of people killed in firing from Pakistan along the international border and Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir since January has climbed to 38. Of them, 19 are security personnel, sources said, adding that the administration has ordered closure of schools within 5 km of the border in Arnia and R S Pura sectors.
