Srinagar: There seems to be no end to the ceasefire violations between India and Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC) as armies of both the countries exchanged heavy fire in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.
The shelling started around 8:50 in the morning in Balakot, Mendhar and Mankot areas of the district and is still going on, reported the Greater Kashmir.
Reports said that all the shops and other business establishments were closed in the area. Meanwhile, authorities have closed all the schools in these border areas and have sounded high alert.
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On Wednesday also, heavy exchange of fire was seen in the Rajouri district along the Line of Control. A defence spokesperson claimed that the Pakistan Army violated the ceasefire agreement around 10:30 hours in Nowshera, Kalal and Sunderbani sectors the district.
Earlier in Uri, India and Pakistan used heavy artillery against each other.
The escalations went to a point that the administration in Uri had to evacuate people and declare an ’emergency’.
According to reports, Pakistan Army, using public address systems asked the people living near the LoC in Uri to move to safer places.
In the latest face off between the two nations, heavy artillery was used, however the Indian Army chose to ‘downplay’ the escalation and called it a ‘local phenomenon’.
“It is more of a local affair in a specific region where due to their (Pakistan’s) action we have reacted at specific places. We don’t intend to open an entire front (but) we will retaliate if Pakistan does any aggressive action and tries to push the infiltrators,” said Lt Gen AK Bhatt, General-officer-commanding (GoC) of 15 corps based in Srinagar.
He also ruled out any announcements from the Pakistani side.
“There were no announcements…but they advised a few villages to vacate for safety reasons,” said Bhatt.
