Jammu: Indian and Pakistani armies on Sunday exchanged heavy fire and shelling along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, police sources said.

‘’Pakistani troops today targeted forward posts and villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir with mortar shells and gunfire in violation of the ceasefire’’, a police official said.

“Indian troops guarding the LoC fired in retaliation and the firing between the two sides continued for nearly half-an-hour from 1300 hours’’, the official said.

He said there was no report of any casualty in the Pakistani firing and shelling in Khari Karmara area.

Earlier on March 18, five members of a family were killed and two others injured when a mortar shell hit their residential house in Balakote sector of the district.

There has been a spurt in ceasefire violations along the LoC and the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir this year, resulting in the death of 26 people including 12 security personnel. PTI

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