Two houses damaged in Pak shelling

JAMMU: Continuing targeting the civilians population along the fence, the Pakistani troops shelled mortar bombs on villages along the International Border (IB) in Kathua district, damaging two houses and injuring cattle.
The heavy mortar shelling by Pakistani troops which started on Tuesday night and repeated on Wednesday evening, in violation of the ceasefire, triggered panic among border residents.
“The firing and mortar shelling on Kathua and its neighbouring villages in the Hiranagar sector began around 2040 hours on Tuesday,” defence officials said.
“The shells hit dozens of houses and damaged two, and injured cattle,” they said.
The border residents staged a protest against Pakistan for the unprovoked ceasefire on Wednesday. They demanded that Pakistan be taught a lesson and the border residents be relocated to safer areas.
"The shelling began soon after we completed our dinner and went to sleep. A shell tore the roof of our house and narrowly missed us," Deleep Kumar of Rathua village said.
He said that firing and shelling by Pakistani troops has been frequent in the past month, creating a fear psychosis among the residents.
On Wednesday evening, the armies of India and Pakistan once again exchanged fire along the IB in Hiranagar sector.
An official said that the Pakistan army opened by small arms along LoC in Hiranagar sector of Kathua district on Wednesday evening around 7 pm.
“The soldiers manning the fence also responded the fire strongly,” he said.
However, there were no immediate reports of any damage.