Jammu, October 5
Less than 24 hours after carrying out an IED attack that left a soldier dead and another critically injured, the Pakistani Army on Sunday shelled forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Balnoi and Mankote sub-sectors in Mendhar tehsil of Poonch. The Indian side guarding the borderline effectively responded to the firing.

"Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire by resorting to unprovoked heavy firing on Indian forward posts along the LoC in Balnoi sub-sector of Poonch district around 8 am,” defence spokesman Lt Col Manish Mehta said here. There was no causality on the Indian side.

An intelligence source, however, said Pakistani troops opened heavy fire using mortars and automatic weapons around 5 am.

“Initially, they opened small arms fire and then switched over to mortars and automatic weapons. The fire was opened from Badmash, LP1, LP2 and Durachiyaan posts,” said the source.

The source said the four Pakistan posts, which were opposite Tiba Tekri post of the Indian Army where the IED had exploded on Saturday, bore the maximum brunt in the retaliatory fire.

Panic-stricken locals from Balnoi-Sagra area told The Tribune that the exchange of fire lasted nearly five hours before guns fell silent on both sides.

This was the 10th ceasefire violation along the J-K border since October 1.

There have been seven ceasefire violations along the LoC in Poonch and three along the IB in Jammu. Pakistani troops had yesterday fired mortar shells along the LoC in Poonch district, drawing equal retaliation from the Army.

In Arnia, along the IB in the RS Pura sector, the Rangers had fired 82 mm mortars, injuring an elderly man and his grandson on October 4.

On October 3, Pakistani troops had shelled forward areas and villages along the LoC in Sabjian sector killing a minor girl and injuring four others. There have been over 100 ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC in recent months.