8 dead, 24 hurt in Pak fire at LoC

At least eight civilians were killed and 24 others were injured along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district after Pakistan began targeting Indian posts in the early hours of Wednesday with heavy artillery shelling.

- Ravi Krishnan Khajuria and Mir Ehsan

JAMMU/SRINAGAR:

The shelling came hours after Indian forces carried out precision strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people two weeks ago.

"At least eight people have died and 24 others injured in Pakistani shelling along the LoC in Poonch district," said a police officer at the Poonch police control room.

He said that intermittent shelling and firing were still on.

Mendhar, Mankote, Balakote and Sagra and Shahpur Kirni were the areas along the LoC that bore the maximum brunt of Pakistani shelling. "Villagers are migrating to their relatives' houses in Jammu," said Darshan Bharti, a resident of Poonch city. He said that he was evacuating his family to Jammu. "But there is panic among the people. There are large queues of people at fuel stations," he said.

Poonch deputy commissioner Vikas Kundal and senior superintendent of police Shafqat Hussain didn't respond to calls and messages. Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha took stock of the situation in the border districts with all the senior administrative, police and district officials, including deputy commissioners (DCs) of all the border districts, earlier this morning.

"I'm closely monitoring the situation and the government is fully prepared to deal with any eventuality. I've also directed the DCs for shifting of villagers from vulnerable areas to safer locations and ensuring boarding, lodging, food, medicare and transportation. We will ensure the safety of every citizen. Jai Hind!" the L-G posted on X.