At least 13 dead, over 50 injured in Pak shelling along LoC in J-K, Poonch worst hit

At least 13 people, including four children and a soldier, were killed and 57 injured as the Pakistan Army carried out one of the most intense artillery and mortar shelling in years, targeting forward villages along the LoC (Line of Control) in Jammu and Kashmir after the Indian missile strikes codenamed Operation Sindoor against terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK, officials said on Wednesday.

Hundreds of residents were forced to take refuge in underground bunkers or shift to safer places as indiscriminate shelling by Pakistan destroyed houses, vehicles and various buildings, including a gurdwara, and created panic among the border residents in the worst-hit Poonch district and Rajouri in the Jammu region and Baramulla and Kupwara in north Kashmir.

The officials said the Indian Army is responding to the shelling in a "befitting manner", resulting in many casualties on the Pakistan side after several of their posts engaged in firing were destroyed.

This is the first time that such intense shelling has been witnessed after a ceasefire agreement was renewed between the two countries on 25 February 2021.

Poonch district accounted for all 13 deaths, the officials said, adding that 42 people were also injured and the condition of two of them was stated to be serious.

Shelling was reported from all along the LoC in Poonch, including Balakote, Mendhar, Mankote, Krishna Ghati, Gulpur, Kerni and even Poonch district headquarters, resulting in damage to dozens of houses and vehicles, they said.

The shelling from across the border was intense until noon and later continued intermittently, mostly restricted to the Poonch sector for the next few hours. Locals faced a tough time evacuating the victims to hospital owing to the heavy shelling, which also hit Poonch bus stand, damaging several buses, the officials said.

Authorities had shut all educational institutions in the five border districts of the Jammu region on Wednesday.

Three Sikh men lost their lives when an artillery shell hit a gurdwara and adjoining houses in Poonch town, they said. Several parties from Punjab condemned the incident.

In a post on X, Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said, "Strongly condemn the inhuman attack by Pakistani forces on the sacred Central Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Sahib in Poonch, in which three innocent Gursikhs, including Bhai Amrik Singh Ji (a raagi Singh), Bhai Amarjeet Singh and Bhai Ranjit Singh lost their lives."

Ten persons, including five children, were also injured in cross-border shelling in Uri sector of Baramulla district, while three others were injured in Rajouri district, the officials said, adding that several houses also caught fire owing to shelling in Karnah sector of Kupwara district.

The officials identified the deceased as Balvinder Kour alias Ruby (33), Mohd Zain Khan (10), his elder sister Zoya Khan (12), Mohd Akram (40), Amrik Singh (55), Mohd Iqbal (45), Ranjeet Singh (48), Shakeela Bi (40), Amarjeet Singh (47), Maryam Khatoon (7), Vihaan Bhargav (13) and Mohd Rafi (40), and a lance naik of the Indian Army.

This was the 13th consecutive night of unprovoked firing along the borders in Jammu and Kashmir, amid heightened tensions following the Pahalgam attack.

Earlier, a defence spokesman said during the intervening night of 6 and 7 May, the Pakistan Army resorted to arbitrary firing, including artillery shelling, from posts across the LoC and International Border opposite Jammu and Kashmir. He said the Indian Army was responding in a “proportionate manner”.

Army sources said Indian troops caused many casualties to the enemy forces after destroying several of their posts in retaliatory action.

In a gesture of solidarity and compassion, Congress MLA from Rajouri Iftkhar Ahmed donated blood along with his supporters after visiting the injured undergoing treatment at the GMC hospital in Rajouri.

Ahmed appealed to the public to come forward and donate blood, emphasising the urgent need to support the medical efforts during this critical time. "We are ready to sacrifice everything for the integrity and sovereignty of the nation. The nation comes first, and we should stand united to face any challenges that come our way," he said.

Principal GMC Rajouri Amarjeet Singh Bhatia said the hospital is fully geared up to deal with the situation in the wake of border skirmishes and mounting tension. “All necessary arrangements are in place to ensure the best treatment for the patients,” he said.

Authorities in Poonch district said they have designated nine public shelter camps with adequate amenities for the people desirous to relocate from the forward villages hit by Pakistani shelling.

"Though there was no cross-border firing in our village, we have been told to shift to ITI College in R.S. Pura where necessary arrangements have been made by the government for our lodgment in view of the prevailing tense situation," Liaqat Ali, a resident of Jorian village near the IB, told PTI.

Ali said the village had suffered immensely and had even been burned to the ground in the past by Pakistani shelling.

The intense shelling from across the border started shortly after Indian armed forces carried out missile attacks on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to avenge the 22 April terror attack in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which left 25 Indians and a Nepalese citizen, mostly tourists, dead.