SRI NAGAR: A teenaged girl was killed and four others were wounded on Friday when Pakistani troops opened fire on Indian forward posts and civilian areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu&Kashmir.
The deceased girl was identified as 16-year-old Zahira Akhtar daughter of Bashir Ahmed.
Defence spokesperson in Jammu Lt Col Manish Mehta told Express that Pakistani troops fired from small arms and restored to unprovoked mortar shelling on forward posts and civilian villages in Sabjian sector along the LoC in Poonch district in Jammu province.
“A teenage girl was killed and four others injured when shells fired by Pakistani troops landed in Gagrian village in Sabjian sector on Friday afternoon. The injured include a 60-year-old person and all of them have been hospitalised,” he said.
Lt Col Mehta said Army personnel deployed on LoC also returned the fire and both the sides exchanged heavy gunfire, with the firefight lasting nearly two-and-a-half hours.
The firing by Pakistani troops has caused panic among residents of Gagrian village and many of them have fled their homes and taken refuge in “safer places”.
Defence sources said this was the third ceasefire violation along the LoC after the September 7 floods that ravaged Jammu and Kashmir leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake.
Meanwhile, a BSF official said Pakistani troops targeted their border outposts along the International Border (IB) in Jammu province. He said Pakistan troops fired from small arms towards forward border posts in Chak Phagwari area of Pargwal sector in Akhnoor area of Jammu.
“Our troops effectively returned fire,” the official said. He added that there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage to property resulting from the firing.