LoC Flare-Up: 60 Families Flee Poonch Village For Safety; Fresh Shelling Wounds Three Of Family, Several Houses Damaged

Poonch March 2: 60 families comprising around 300 people have fled their homes for safety as Indian and Pakistani armies continued to pound the Line of Control here Saturday amid heightened tensions between the two countries.

The families on Friday afternoon left their homes in Ward 10 of Balnoie village of Mankote sector, where shelling between India and Pakistan armies Saturday left three members of a family wounded.

Siblings Azad Ahmad (20), Zahida Khatoon (15) and their mother Zarina wife of Mohammad Shabir were injured as some shells fired Pakistan Army landed in Ghani village, a police official told GNS.

They were rushed to SDH Mendhar for treatment, where their condition was stated to be stable, according to Block Medical Officer Mendhar Dr Parvaiz Khan.

This correspondent found only an elderly person Ghulam Hussain in ward no. 10 of Balnoie village yesterday.

“Everyone else has fled,” Hussain told GNS on Friday afternoon. He said that India and Pakistan must realize that innocent civilians on both sides were suffering immensely due to the continued hostility between the two countries.

“We are poor people and cannot afford the loss of houses. We are tired of living under the fear of getting killed or our houses getting destroyed in the shelling, ” he said, urging both India and Pakistan to resolve their issues peacefully.

Hussain also accused the administration of leaving the “residents at the mercy of God with no essential commodities including ration and Kerosene oil.”

According to sources, over 30 residential houses suffered damage due to the shelling in Balakote, Mendhar and Mankote sectors over the past few days.

On Friday evening, three members of a family including a brother, sister and their mother were killed and two others injured when a shell hit their house at Salotri in Krishna Ghati sector. (GNS)