Sounds of Pak shelling fall silent as J&K limps back to normalcy

Normalcy was limping back to the border districts of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) much to the relief of local residents, who woke up in a peaceful atmosphere on Sunday morning having witnessed the first night in nearly a week without the sound of cross-border artillery and mortal shelling, missile and drone attacks, officials said on Sunday.

- Ravi Krishnan Khajuria and Ashiq Hussain

JAMMU/SRINAGAR: Normalcy was limping back to the border districts of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) much to the relief of local residents, who woke up in a peaceful atmosphere on Sunday morning having witnessed the first night in nearly a week without the sound of cross-border artillery and mortal shelling, missile and drone attacks, officials said on Sunday.

The guns on either side of the border fell silent around 10.30 pm on Saturday, hours after India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire along the LoC and International Border. Defence officials said no violation of the ceasefire or drone activity was reported from anywhere in J&K.

"The Pakistani guns fell silent around 10.30 pm on Saturday. Since then, there has been no fresh firing. The peace has always been fragile in J&K. Though we have resumed our normal life, we hope Pakistan doesn't vitiate the atmosphere," said 42-year-old Madan Lal from Akhnoor in Jammu district.