Pakistan violates ceasefire in J-K's Poonch district

Pakistani troops today targeted forward posts and villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir with mortar shells and gunfire in violation of the ceasefire, police said.

Indian troops guarding the LoC fired in retaliation and the firing between the two sides continued for nearly half-an-hour from 1300 hours, a police officer said.  He said there was no report of any casualty in the Pakistani firing and shelling in Khari Karmara area.

This is for the second time in the past week that Pakistani troops targeted Indian positions in the area. On March 27, Pakistani troops fired mortar bombs ending a 10-day long lull in the cross-border firing along the LoC in the state.  Earlier on March 18, five members of a family were killed and two others injured when a mortar shell hit their residential house in Balakote sector of the district.

There has been a spurt in ceasefire violations along the LoC and the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir this year, resulting in the death of 26 people including 12 security personnel.