According to the officials, a mortar shell landed in a house in Azad Jammu and Kashmir that killed a woman and wounded her daughter-in-law. Reports claimed that it was “unprovoked shelling” by Indian troops from across the Line of Control (LoC).
The Indian troops started shelling in Sehra at 10:45am. This area is one of the most vulnerable villages in Pooch district’s Battal sector. A local police official, Javed Iqbal said, “The shelling started without any provocation catching the residents off guard.”
He further said, “A mortar shell exploded in the courtyard of a house, killing a woman on the spot and critically injuring her daughter in law. The continuous shelling had kept people of the area indoors.”
The victims were identified as 45-year-old Nasreen Begum, wife of Chaudhry Wazir Hussain, and 24-year-old Sonia Nadeem. The victims were identified by Rubia Kanwal, Pooch district disaster management officer (DDMO).
“Goi and Tatta Pani sectors in my jurisdiction were also being hit by Indian troops with heavy weapons,” said Shariq Talat, DDMO in neighbouring Kotli district.
“So far no losses have been reported from anywhere [in the two sectors],” he said.
Prime Minister AJK Raja Farooq Haider said, “I was greatly saddened by the loss of yet another innocent civilian life in the area.”
He also said, “Targeting the unarmed and innocent civilians along the LoC reflects the height of cowardliness on the part of the Indian Army.”
“The Indian government is gravely mistaken in believing that such dastardly acts can force Kashmiris to change their stance on India’s illegal occupation of their motherland,” he further added.
The international community was also called upon by the AJK PM to take the situation in the region seriously and play its due role in addressing the root cause of tensions between India and Pakistan.
According to officials, the latest casualties have pushed the death toll in ceasefire violations by the Indian Army in the current year to 15, including six females, while the number of injured civilians has gone up to 82, including 33 females.