Operation Sindoor: ‘7 killed, 38 injured’ in Pakistan shelling in J&K after India strikes 9 terror camps

Seven people, including a woman and two children, were killed and 38 others injured on Wednesday as the Pakistan Army pounded dozens of forward villages with artillery and mortar shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

“All the seven deaths were reported in the worst-hit Poonch district with another 25 persons injured,” the officials told news agency PTI. Meanwhile, 10 people were injured in Uri sector of Baramulla district and three others were injured in Rajouri district, the officials added.

The Indian Army said on Wednesday that Pakistan violated the ceasefire agreement by firing artillery in Bhimber Gali in Poonch-Rajauri area of Jammu and Kashmir early Wednesday.

"The Indian Army is responding appropriately in a calibrated manner," the Army said.

The cross-firing between India and Pakistan was reported after India carried out missile strikes against nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir late Tuesday.

India said it targetted nine sites in Pakistan and PoK. “No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution,” the Ministry of Defence said.

Pakistan retaliated by launching “arbitrary firing, including artillery shelling, from posts across the LoC and IB [International Border] opposite Jammu and Kashmir,” sources in the Indian Army said.

Earlier, sources had put the death toll from pakistan sheeling at three. “Three innocent civilians lost their lives in indiscriminate firing and shelling by Pakistan,” sources said.

Besides Mankote, heavy shelling from across the border was reported in Krishna Ghati and Shahpur sectors in Poonch, Laam, Manjakote and Gambeer Brahmana in Rajouri district in Jammu region and Karnah and Uri sectors in north Kashmir's Kupwara and Baramulla districts.

Indian security forces guarding the border also retaliated and the cross-border shelling between the two sides was going on when the last reports were received, officials said, adding the Pakistani shelling forced the people to take refuge in underground bunkers.

This was the 13th consecutive night of unprovoked firing along the borders in Jammu and Kashmir, amid heightened tensions following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that left 26 people, mostly tourists, dead.

‘Operation Sindoor’

In retaliation against the Pahalgam terror attack, Indian armed forces carried out missile attacks early Wednesday on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including Bahawalpur which is a major base of the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror outfit.

The military strikes were carried out under 'Operation Sindoor', the Indian Army said in a statement released at 1.44 am.

Pakistan ceasefire violations

"Pakistan again violates the Ceasefire Agreement by firing artillery in Bhimber Gali in Poonch- Rajauri area. Indian Army is responding appropriately in a calibrated manner," the additional directorate general of public information (ADGPI) of the Indian Army wrote on X.

The ceasefire violations along the LoC and International Border (IB) have been very rare after India and Pakistan renewed the ceasefire agreement on February 25, 2021.

Since the night of April 24, just hours after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty following a terror attack in Pahalgam, Pakistani troops have been resorting to unprovoked firing at various places along the LoC in J&K, starting from the Kashmir Valley.

Initially beginning with unprovoked small arms firing at several posts along the LoC in Kupwara and Baramulla districts of north Kashmir, Pakistan swiftly expanded its ceasefire violations to the Poonch sector and subsequently to the Akhnoor sector of the Jammu region.

This was followed by small arms firing at several posts along the LoC in the Sunderbani and Naushera sectors of Rajouri district. Subsequently, the firing spread to the Pargwal sector along the International Border in Jammu district.

Meanwhile, a powerful explosion was also heard in Panthiyal sub-division in Ramban district, but its exact cause was not known immediately, the officials said.

(With inputs from agencies)