Minor girl, BSF jawan killed, 16 injured in Pak shelling in J&K\'s Poonch

SRINAGAR: A 5-year-old girl and a Border Security Force (BSF) official were killed and half a dozen security personnel and ten civilians injured as Pakistani troops intensified mortal shelling along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Monday.

The BSF and Army officials in Jammu said that the Pakistani troops violated the November 2003 ceasefire understanding twice during the day on Monday by targeting the Indian forward positions and civilian areas in Poonch’s Krishna Ghati, Mankote, Kerni, Shahpur, Degwar and Gulpur areas, causing casualties among the Army and BSF personnel and civilians.

“They resorted to unprovoked mortar shelling and small arms fire early Monday morning and also in the afternoon. The own forces retaliated befittingly and strongly by using the same calibre weapons,” an Army official in winter capital said.

A BSF spokesman said that an Inspector of the paramilitary force was killed and four other jawans were injured in the Pakistani shelling. He added that the injured jawans were out of danger.

Earlier, a 5-year-old girl Sobia Shareef was killed and ten other civilians and an Army jawan were injured in the Pakistani shelling and firing at different locations along the de facto border, the police sources said.