Pakistan resorts to heavy mortar shelling in Arnia, R S Pura sectors; dozen cattle killed

Pakistani Rangers were firing 82 mm and 120 mm mortar shells, sources said, adding that shelling from across the border started after midnight and by 5 am, it got intensified. With BSF troops retaliating, it was still going on in both the areas at intermittent intervals.

The latest ceasefire violation by Pakistan has come in the area after a brief lull of five days as a woman along with her 12-year-old son were among three people injured at Arnia in shelling from across the border on September 16 night. It has not been the first time that mortar shells from Pakistan have landed in Arnia town as in 2014 also, many people were injured and a number of houses damaged in Pakistani shelling.

The fresh escalation along the international border, which began with the killing of a BSF constable Brijendra Bahadur Singh at Chenaz post on September 15 morning, has come just four days after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh visited Nowshera and issued a stern warning to Pakistan saying that it will have to stop ceasefire violations one day… “today or tomorrow” in view of the strong retaliation by Indian troops. To substantiate his point, he had recalled 2014 when Pakistani Rangers had been resorting to heavy Shelling along the international border in Jammu region and it had to stop firing following strong retaliation by BSF troops. “Since then, the border has been peaceful there,” he added.