3 die, 17 hurt as Pak pounds Jammu villages

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

Tribune News Service

RS Pura/Arnia, August 28

Three civilians, including two women, were killed and 17 others injured as Pakistan today targeted at least 20 villages and 18 Border Security Force (BSF) posts with mortars and automatic weapons along the 198-km International Border in Arnia and RS Pura sub-sectors of Jammu district.

Islamabad summoned Indian High Commissioner TCA Raghavan and lodged a protest over “unprovoked” ceasefire violations after the Pakistan Army claimed at least six civilians were killed and 47 others injured in firing by the BSF in the Charwa sector near the Sialkot working boundary.

Pakistan Rangers went full throttle early today using mortars and automatic weapons to target villages, including Kishanpur, Jeora Form, Jugnu Chak, Nawapind, Harna, Sia, Jabowal, Kot Kubba, Sai Khurd, Sai Kalan, Gharana, Gharani, Abdullian, Korotan Khurd and Chandu Chak.

Those killed were: Pawan Kumar Choudhary of Abdullian, Bimla Devi, aka Banso Devi, and Kanta Devi, both sisters-in-law, of Sai Khurd.

Bloodstains on the floors and walls, shattered windowpanes and dead cattle reflected a sordid tale of death and destruction unleashed by Pakistan.

The latest ceasefire violation comes days after six civilians were killed and 20 others injured in 11-day-long shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch.

The Director General-level talks between the BSF and Pakistan Rangers are scheduled from September 9 to 13 in New Delhi.

“Around 11.45 pm on Thursday, Pakistan troops fired at a BSF patrol team from its Thathi post near Aik Nullah in Arnia. They again targeted other ambush teams,” said Inspector General (BSF Jammu) RK Sharma.

“Despite provocation, our personnel didn’t retaliate but after some time they opened machine gun fire at one of our posts in the area. 

We retaliated with restraint,” he said. Around 12.30 am, Pakistan Rangers fired 82 mm mortars at the post as well as Nawapind and Gharana villages, said Sharma.

“By 2 am, Pakistan spread the arc of fire and shelling to 18 posts and 20 villages. Around 4 am, the volume of fire increased and remained intense till 6.30 am. We didn’t initiate first fire but gave them a stinging response,” said the officer. The nine-hour duel ended around 9 am.

Pakistan Army and Rangers have stepped up unprovoked firing along the LoC and the international border after PM Narendra Modi met his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif at Ufa. The death toll in Pakistan shelling this month has risen to nine, including six in Poonch on August 15 and 16.

20 villages, 18 BSF posts targeted

• Pakistan Rangers targeted 20 villages and 18 BSF posts with mortars and automatic weapons for nine hours in Arnia and RS Pura of Jammu district
• The Jammu administration has opened makeshift shelters for villagers to take refuge from shelling in the RS Pura sector 
• The death toll in Pakistan shelling this month has risen to nine, including six in Poonch on August 15 and 16