Jammu: Pakistani troops targeted border villages in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district with mortar bombs on Sunday, killing five members of a family including three minor children, officials with knowledge of the matter said. Two other members of the family were critically injured and were airlifted to Jammu for treatment.

The “unprovoked and indiscriminate" shelling of civilian areas almost three-four kilometres from the Line of Control (LoC) by the Pakistani troops, in violation of a ceasefire agreement, lasted from 7.45AM to 11.30AM, army PRO Lt. Col. Devender Anand said. Indian troops guarding the border retaliated strongly and effectively, he added.

Stressing the need for peace, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti tweeted: “Anguished to hear of 5 (five) people losing their lives in the crossfire along the LoC in the Balakote sector of Poonch. My deepest condolences to their family."

Inspector General of Police, Jammu, S.D.S Jamwal said the civil administration was “alive to the situation" and appropriate precautionary actions would be taken to ensure safety of civilians.

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