Villagers Along Pak Border Fear War as Tensions Escalate

Locals recall 1999 Kargil War when mines made their fields inaccessible

- Agence France-Presse

AMRITSAR: Daoke village is fenced from Pakistan on three sides and 65-year-old resident Hardev Singh, who has lived through multiple wars between the arch-rivals, knows the drill if another erupts.

"All women, children, cattle and most younger men moved back to safe shelters in 1999 and 1971," Hardev said, referring to two of the worst outbreaks of fighting between the neighbours.

"We couldn't go to our fields," he said, adding that it was only the village's elderly men who "stayed back to ensure that our homes were not looted".

Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours have plummeted after India accused Pakistan of backing the deadliest attack in years on civilians in Pahalgam on April 22.