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Two soldiers, who were seriously injured in a violation of the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) at Uri in the Baramulla district of northern Kashmir on Friday, died in an Army hospital on Saturday. Four civilians and three soldiers were wounded in the indiscriminate firing of projectiles from the other side of the LoC on Friday, the army said.
Army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said the two soldiers, who were injured in a violation of the ceasefire in the Rampur sector on Friday, died on Saturday. “The army salutes the sacrifice of the soldiers,” he said.
The four injured civilians, including a four-year-old boy, are receiving treatment at two hospitals in Uri and Baramulla.
Locals said no new shelling was reported in their area since Friday night. A couple of houses were also damaged, when shells and mortars fell near the houses in the Churunda village at the LoC in the Haji peer sector.
This is the second time in the last fortnight when Indian and Pakistani soldiers exchanged fire at the LoC in the Uri sector amid the coronavirus disease pandemic (Covid-19).
The Indian army has been using heavy artillery to respond to Pakistan’s recent ceasefire violations.
In April, three civilians were killed in two villages in the Kupwara district of northern Kashmir, when shells fired from across the LoC landed near an army camp in Panzgam.
In March, Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged fire in the Uri sector where a house was damaged. The mortar shells had fallen in the villages of Mothal, Silikote, Hatlanga and Churunda in the LoC.
The Indian army blamed Pakistan for the ceasefire violations in an attempt to help militants infiltrate Kashmir since the Article 370 revocation on August 5, 2019. Senior army officials have warned that the militants are waiting on various launch pads through the LoC to sneak into Kashmir.
Villagers living in the LoC have been demanding the construction of underground bunkers, where they could take refuge during the bombings that escalated in the past year.
Pakistan has violated the ceasefire around 1,400 times this year to date. While the corresponding figure for 2018 and 2019 was 1,629 and 3,168, respectively.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh last week urged top military commanders to ensure that the country’s adversary cannot exploit the ongoing health emergency due to Covid-19.
