Baramulla: A woman was killed while another was injured in cross-LoC shelling in Uri in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Friday.
Official sources said that Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire and targeted Indian Army posts in Uri sector on Friday morning. They said that Pakistani troops started to target the Indian Army posts by firing machine guns and later they started heavy mortar shelling towards this side.
The Indian troops retaliated and the cross-LoC shelling continued till afternoon, the official sources said.
Village head Churanda Lal Din Ahmad told Kashmir Reader that shelling and firing started in morning and continued throughout the day from both sides. He said that the local residents in Churanda, Batgran, Thajal, Silikote, Soura, Mothal, Tilawari, Sadpora, Hathlanga, Nambla, Garkot, and other villages took shelter in the ground storeys of their houses while several others took shelter in cow sheds. Some others whose houses were in the line of fire ran towards safer places.
There was panic and fear all over the sector, Ahmad said.
Official sources told Kashmir Reader that a woman identified as Akhtara Begam, 42, wife of Zahoor Ahmad Chachi, resident of Batgran village, was killed when a shell hit her. Another woman identified as Parvena Akhtar, 35, wife of Mohammad Shafi Sheikh, resident of Nambla village, sustained arm injuries caused by a splinter that fell near her house. She has been shifted to sub district hospital (SDH) Uri for treatment.
Block Medical Officer (BMO) Uri Dr Mohammad Ramzan confirmed that a lady was killed in Batgran village and another lady in Nambla village suffered arm injuries. He said the injured woman is stable at SDH Uri. He said an ambulance was sent to the area but due to heavy shelling it had still not reached there.
Sources said that several villagers of Batgran left their home to seek shelter in safer places while a few civilians were shifted to government higher secondary school Uri.
They said that dozens of houses were partially damaged due to the heavy shelling in several villages of Uri sector.
Last week, both the armies exchanged heavy gunfire and shelling in the sector due to which several government buildings including police station Uri sustained partial damage.
SDM Uri Riyaz Ahmad Malik said that cross-LoC firing started at around 10am and one lady was killed in Batgran village, which is located on “zero line” at the LoC. He said that shells also dropped in several other villages. He said 12 families were shifted to main town Uri for shelter and they were accommodated in empty buildings of NHPC in Uri. More people are likely to be shifted there, he said.
“We sent an ambulance vehicle to the area and if need be we will shift more families from villages to Uri town,” the SDM said.

Mushtaq Ahamd