Guns Roar Along LoC After Two-Day Lull In Akhnoor

Jammu: The armies of India and Pakistan armies exchanged heavy fire along the Line of Control (LoC) on Monday morning breaking a two-day lull in cross-border skirmishes.

A defence spokesman said Pakistan violated ceasefire by targeting forward posts and villages along the Line of Control in Akhnoor.

“The firing from across the border started around 3.00 am hours and stopped at 6.30 am hours,” he said.

He said Pakistan army fired mortar shells and used small arms to target forward posts and the villages.

“Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively,” the spokesman said, adding there was no report of any casualty on Indian side.

Barring two-hour cross-border firing in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district Saturday afternoon, the guns had fallen silent all along the LoC since Friday night.

The lull in the cross-border firing had come as a major relief to the border residents, especially in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri, where four persons including three members of a family were killed and several others injured in cross-border shelling.

The firing exchanges witnessed a spurt after India and Pakistan carried out tit-for-tat air strikes last week.

Amid heightened tensions, Army chief General Bipin Rawat visited Jammu-based White Knight Corps on Saturday and reviewed the operational preparedness of the forces in the Corps Zone in view of the current situation along the LoC and the International Border.

Gen Rawat visited various forward locations of Samba and Ratnuchak along the IB in Jammu region again on Sunday.