After Op Sindoor, 12 civilians killed, 42 injured in Pakistan shelling in Poonch

Pakistan carried out intermittent shelling, targeting civilians in the Mendhar, Mankote, Balakote, Krishna Ghati, Sagra and Shahpur Kirni areas along the LoC and even Poonch town, resulting damage to dozens of houses.

Jammu: At least 12 civilians were killed and 42 injured as Pakistan army resorted to intense artillery shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district on Wednesday morning soon after India carried out precision strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to avenge the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that left 26 people dead.

A man looks through a damaged portion of a house after heavy firing and shelling by Pakistan military overnight across the Line of Control in Mendhar area of Poonch district on Wednesday. (PTI Photo)

A senior police officer of Poonch confirmed the casualties and said the dead include four children, aged between seven and 14 years. Among four minors, two were siblings. Four members of the Sikh community, including a woman, were also among the dead. A Muslim cleric of Darul Uloom Madarsa Quari Mohammad Iqbal was also killed in the Pakistani shelling.

The indiscriminate shelling created panic among the border residents who were forced to take refuge in underground bunkers or shift to safer places within or outside their villages. The shelling was reported from Balakote, Mendhar, Mankote, Sagra, Krishna Ghati, Gulpur, Kerni and even Poonch district headquarters, resulting in damage to dozens of houses.

Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha and Christ School in Poonch town were hit in the Pakistani artillery fire.

People loading their belongings on a bus as they try to escape after heavy artillery shelling in the main town of Poonch district in Jammu region on Wednesday. (AFP Photo)

“Villagers are migrating to their relatives’ houses in Jammu,” said Darshan Bharti, a local resident of Poonch, which is located 20km from the LoC.

“There is panic in Poonch town, which has witnessed two deaths in the Pakistani shelling. You can see long queues at fuel stations,” Bharti said, adding he was evacuating his family to Jammu.

Poonch deputy commissioner Vikas Kundal and district police chief Shafqat Hussain didn’t respond to calls and messages.

Smoke billows after an artillery shell landed in the main town of Poonch on Wednesday. (AFP Photo)

The deceased included Mohd Adil of Sagra under Mendhar police station, Saleem Hussain of Balakot, also in Mendhar, Balvinder Kour, alias Ruby, 33, of Mohalla Sardaran in Mankote, Mohd Zain, 10, of Kalani village under Mandi police station in Poonch, Mohd Akram, 55, of Ward number 1 of Mohalla Sukka Katha, Amreek Singh of Mohalla Sandigate, Ranjeet Singh and Amarjeet Singh of Sandigate, Zoya Khan, 12, of Kalani village in Mandi, Mohd Rafi, 36, of Kojra, Bandichechian, and Mohd Iqbal, 45, of Baila village.