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Op Sindoor: Rajouri ADC among 5 killed as Pakistan escalates shelling in Jammu region
Residents of Jammu woke up to air-raid sirens and deafening sounds of explosions around 4.15am on Saturday, while border residents in Samba, RS Pura, Akhnoor, Rajouri and Poonch districts spent a sleepless night due to intense cross-border shelling.
Five people, including a senior Jammu and Kashmir government official, were killed as intense mortar shelling and drone strikes by Pakistan hit Jammu region early on Saturday, officials said. This takes the civilian toll to 19 in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch since the cross-border hostilities escalated since Wednesday night.
Raj Kumar Thapa, the additional district development commissioner, and his two staff members were seriously injured when an artillery shell hit his official residence in Rajouri town. They were rushed to the Government Medical College, where Thapa succumbed to his injuries.
Condoling Thapa’s death, chief minister Omar Abdullah posted on X, “We have lost a dedicated officer of the J-K Administration Services. Just yesterday he was accompanying the Deputy CM around Rajouri district and attended the online meeting I chaired. Today, the residence of the officer was hit by Pak shelling as they targeted Rajouri town. I’ve no words to express my shock at this terrible loss of life. Paid my heartfelt condolences to the family.”
Two more persons, two-year-old Aisha Noor and 35-year-old Mohammad Shohib from Bihar, were killed, and three others were injured in Pakistani shelling near an industrial area in Rajouri town, the officials said.
In Poonch’s Mendhar, Rashida Bi, 62, of Kangra Gultha died in Pakistani shelling on Saturday morning, an official said.
In another incident, Ashok Kumar of Bidipur Jatta village was killed in cross-border firing along the border in the RS Pura sector of Jammu district, they said. Three more persons were injured in intense shelling in Poonch and evacuated to a hospital, they said, adding that a local journalist was injured in the Nowshera sector of Rajouri.
Jammu woke up to deafening blasts
Residents of Jammu and other major towns of the division woke up to air raid sirens and deafening sounds of explosions around 4.15am on Saturday, while the border residents in Samba, RS Pura, Akhnoor, Rajouri and Poonch districts spent a sleepless night due to intense shelling along the IB and LoC.
In Jammu city, a house and a temple were hit by Pakistani projectiles in Rehari Colony and Upper Roop Nagar localities, respectively, early on Saturday, the officials said. Balvinder Singh of Rehari Colony, said, “We have shifted our neighbour’s family to hospital. A girl has been hit in the stomach and another member has suffered a fracture.”
BSF destroys terror launchpad in Sialkot
The Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday said that it had destroyed a terror launchpad in Sialkot in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
“On May 9 from 9pm, Pakistan initiated unprovoked firing on BSF posts in Jammu sector. The BSF responded in a commensurate manner, causing widespread damage to the posts and assets of the Pakistan Rangers along the international boundary,” said a BSF spokesperson.
A terrorist launchpad at Looni in Sialkot district opposite Akhnoor area, was completely destroyed by the BSF, he added.
Earlier, an unrelenting Pakistan launched a wave of drone and missile attacks on Jammu, Samba, Udhampur districts and resorted to intense shelling on Rajouri and Poonch districts on Friday evening, prompting India to retaliate in equal measure.
Yet again, India’s air defence system, including S400, effectively intercepted Pakistani drones.
There was complete blackout in Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Udhampur, Rajouri and Poonch districts overnight. Katra town, the base camp of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, also observed a blackout but the pilgrimage remained unaffected.
An official statement shared by Defence spokesperson Lt Col Suneel Bartwal said, “Drones have been sighted at 26 locations ranging from the Baramulla in the North to Bhuj in the South, along both the International Border and the Line of Control with Pakistan. These include suspected armed drones posing potential threats to civilian and military targets.”
The locations include Baramulla, Srinagar, Avantipora, Nagrota, Jammu, Ferozepur, Pathankot, Fazilka, Lalgarh Jatta, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bhuj, Kuarbet and Lakhi Nala.
