india

Updated: Apr 02, 2019 06:59 IST

A minor girl and a Border Security Force (BSF) officer were among three killed and at least 20 others wounded when Pakistani troops fired on forward Indian posts at separate places along the de facto India-Pakistan border — the Line of Control (LoC) — in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Monday.

The three were identified as Sobia Shareef, 5, Shaista Bi, 35, and BSF officer T Alex Lalminlun. “Inspector T Alex Lalminlun attained martyrdom... while retaliating to [Pakistani] ceasefire violation...,” the BSF said in a tweet. It did not give further details about the officer.

As many as nine people, including four soldiers, have been killed in cross-LoC shelling since tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad escalated after Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed claimed responsibility for the February 14 attack on a CRPF convoy that left 40 paramilitary troopers dead.

The attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district prompted India to carry out an airstrike on a JeM camp in Pakistan’s Balakot on February 26. Pakistan retaliated a day later and downed a fighter jet besides capturing an Indian pilot, Abhinandan Varthaman, before repatriating him on March 1.

A cross-border ceasefire agreement India and Pakistan announced in 2003 has repeatedly been violated every time tensions between the two countries have risen.

Poonch’s senior police superintendent, Ramesh Kumar Angral, said at least 13 civilians and four BSF personnel were also injured in Poonch’s Shahpur and Mendhar in the fresh ceasefire violations on Monday from the Pakistani side. He said the shelling was going on when reports last came in.

BSF (Jammu frontier) deputy inspector general, Akhileshwar Singh, said the men of his force injured in the shelling were out of danger.

Defence spokesman Lt Col Devender Anand said the Pakistani troops used mortars and small arms along the LoC at places like Mankote and Krishna Ghati.“...The army is retaliating strongly,” he said.

Anand said the shelling began around 7.45 am and that the Pakistani Army also targeted civilian areas.

Poonch deputy commissioner Rahul Yadav said the district administration was forced to order the closure of educational institutions in places like Shahpur as a preventive measure because of the cross-LoC firing.

Police sources said mortars from the Pakistan side landed in residential areas in Dabraj, Mankote, Shahpur and Kerni.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about the cross-border shelling at an election rally in Jammu’s Akhnoor on March 28 and said it will not last long as Indian forces were giving Pakistan a befitting reply.