Kupwara: Troops of India and Pakistan on Monday traded heavy gunfire and shelling across the Line of Control (LoC) in Machil sector of frontier Kupwara district. Official sources said that Pakistani rangers violated the ceasefire in Machil sector and targeted several Indian army posts, to which the Indian Army retaliated and the exchange of firing and shelling continued for an hour.
They said that one Indian Army soldier was injured in the firing and was shifted to the army hospital for treatment.
Srinagar-based spokesperson of Indian Army, Colonel Rajesh Kalia, said that Pakistan began the unprovoked ceasefire violation in Machil sector on Monday morning by firing mortars and other weapons. “Befitting response is being given,” he said, adding that the condition of the injured soldier is stable in hospital.
Machil sector is a far-flung area of Kupwara district and the army is the only source of information.
Cross-border firing between troops of India and Pakistan is now routine in Jammu and Kashmir. Scores of troops and civilians have been killed and injured on both sides in recent months and years. Machil, Karan, Karnah, Nowgam, Uri, Boniyar, Lachipora and Gurez are some of the main sectors in north Kashmir where the warring troops target each other almost every day. Civilians often bear the brunt of this hostility, losing lives as well as property.

Mushtaq Ahamd