Poonch witnessed ‘death and destruction’ for over eleven-long hours after India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ to decimate the safe havens of terrorist organisations in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) late Tuesday night.
To counter the strikes on their territory, the Pakistan army trained their artillery guns at civilian pockets of Poonch and Rajouri city in the wee hours, killing 12 civilians, including three children, and injuring 45 others.
In response, the Indian Army also hit hard, targeting several forward posts of the Pakistan Army. Unconfirmed reports claimed that the Pakistan Army suffered heavy casualties in retaliatory strikes.
Several houses were damaged in the shelling from across the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri and Poonch.
Chief Medical Officer Poonch, Dr Parvaiz Ahmad, said 12 civilians have lost their lives and 45 others were injured in the intense shelling by the Pakistan Army on Wednesday. The ‘Operation Sindoor’ was launched by the Indian armed forces to avenge the killing of 26 innocent citizens holidaying in the Baisaran valley of Pahalgam on April 22. The entire stretch of the LoC bordering Rajouri and Poonch districts was set on fire as heavy shelling was also reported from Balakote, Mendhar, Mankote, Sagra, Krishna Ghati, Gulpur and Kerni.
In Poonch, artillery shelling was reported around 2.45 am and continued till 2.00 pm. Several thickly populated areas of Poonch city, including historic Poonch Fort, police lines, religious places, including Geeta Bhawan, a local Mosque, Christ school, and Gurdwara, faced the brunt of the heavy artillery shelling.
As chaos prevailed in parts of Poonch city, several families hurriedly vacated the area to run for safety. Local police authorities also deployed bulletproof bunkers to escort civilians from the worst-affected areas. A senior police officer on the ground told The Pioneer the indiscriminate shelling by Pakistan 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. A family of six, travelling in a car, lost their only son after their four-wheeler was hit by a shell fired from across the line of control. A senior officer told The Pioneer that the deceased kid was the only son of a lady school teacher. The family was in two minds before they left their home to look for safety. Soon after they started their journey towards Jammu, they came under heavy shelling around noon in which they lost their only son. The other members of the
family were rushed to the nearby Poonch hospital.
Anticipating fresh escalation along the line of control in the next 24 hours, the villagers have been advised to shift to safer locations of their close relatives or designated shelter points set up by the district administration to accommodate the local population.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Wednesday took stock of the situation in the border districts of J and K UT with all the senior administrative, police and district officials, including DCs of all the border districts.
In a post on X Office of LG said, “I’ve also directed the DCs for shifting of villagers from vulnerable areas to safer locations and ensuring boarding, lodging, food, medicare and transportation. We will ensure the safety of every citizen, he added.
In Srinagar, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also chaired an emergency meeting with Deputy Commissioners of all border districts through video conferencing to assess the situation in the wake of intense cross-border shelling in these districts.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister gave directions to immediately release Contingency Funds of `5 crore to each border district and `2 crore each to other districts so that Deputy Commissioners are equipped to deal with the emergencies arising and requiring the availability of adequate resources. The Chief Minister directed the Health Department to maintain sufficient stock of essential medical supplies, ensuring availability of doctors, paramedics and keeping blood supply ready in case of any depletion in hospitals, especially in vulnerable areas. He also directed to move Ambulances to the border districts witnessing cross border shelling so that in case of any casualty, the injured are rushed to the hospitals.