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India, Pak trade fire in Poonch

KT NEWS SERVICE. Dated: 12/13/2019 12:35:29 PM

BSF, police sanitize Samba IB

POONCH, Dec 12: Pakistan army on Thursday, for the second consecutive day, heavily shelled forward Indian border posts and the villages on the Line of Control (LoC) in Shahpur-Kerni and Qasba sectors of Poonch district.
Indian army, too, retaliated in equal measure thus ensuing heavy exchange of fire between two sides.
PRO Defence Lt Col Devender Anand, while confirming ceasefire violation, said, “Pakistan violated ceasefire in Poonch district on Thursday morning. At about 1130 hours today, Pak initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing of small arms and shelling with mortars along LoC in Shahpur, Kerni and Qasba sectors in Poonch district. Indian army retaliated.”
Ghulam Mohammed, a local, said, “After brief lull, this morning, Pakistani army yet again, all of sudden, resorted to heavy shelling targeting village and border posts. Villagers, who were in the process to shift injured in yesterday’s firing to the hospital, ran helter-skelter for their safety. Pak army today again lobbed mortars on the village.”
In the meanwhile, local army sources said that Pakistan violated ceasefire by resorting to small arms fire and shelling along the LoC in Balakote sector of Poonch district as well.
However police too confirmed unprovoked Pak shelling at around 11.30 AM on civilian areas and Indian forward posts along LoC in Shahpur, Qasba and Kerni sectors.
In the meanwhile in Samba, the Border Security Force (BSF) and police launched a joint search operation to sanitize areas along the International border (IB).
“We have launched a joint operation along the IB to conduct searches along forward areas in Samba district today (Thursday),” SSP Samba, Shakti Pathak, told reporters here. “This is being done to enhance the security setup along the IB due to the threat posed by Pakistani troops. The five-km area along the IB was searched and sanitized,” Pathak said, adding that all border areas would be sanitized as part of the operation.