Woman, her two children killed in shelling at Poonch

india

Updated: Mar 02, 2019 22:26 IST

A woman and her two children, one of them nine months old, were killed while her husband was critically injured after a Pakistani mortar shell hit their house along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jhullas area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district late on Friday.

Shelling by Pakistani forces intensified around 10:30 pm, shortly after Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was repatriated through the Wagah border at 9:15 pm after two days of captivity.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Poonch, Ramesh Angral said Pakistani army resorted to heavy shelling on Friday in Flore area of village Jhullas.

A shell exploded inside their house, killing 26-year-old Rubina Kouser, her two children — 9-month-old Shabnam and five-year-old Faizan — and critically injuring her husband Mohammed Younis (32), Angral said.

On Thursday, Amina Akhter (27), was killed while a soldier, Zakir Hussain (35), was injured in Pakistani shelling in Poonch.

Tensions along the LoC have escalated since the February 14 suicide bombing attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama that killed 40 personnel. Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the attack. Twelve days after the attack, on February 26, the Indian Air Force bombed the terror group’s biggest training camp near Balakot in Pakistan. On Thursday, authorities ordered closure of schools within a five kilometre from the International Border with Pakistan and the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir.