December 21, 2001	Friday	Shawwal 5, 1422

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MUZAFFARABAD, Dec 20: Indian troops continued unprovoked shelling with light and heavy weapons from across the Line of Control on Thursday, wounding two more civilians in the southern Bhimbher district.

Bhimbher SP Tariq Ajmi told Dawn by telephone that the shelling had started at 10:30am and continued till 2:30pm in the Meera village of the Samahni sector.

Those injured were named as Mohammad Yousaf, 45, and Waqas Tariq, 3, son of Mohammad Tariq. They were taken to a hospital in the Bhimbher city in a critical condition.

Three civilians were injured in Indian shelling in the same sector on Tuesday evening.

Official sources told this correspondent that Indian troops were also shelling villages in Khuiratta and Nakyal sectors in the Kotli district.

Indian officials said on Thursday that their troops had traded mortar and heavy machinegun fire with Pakistan at several points along the Line of Control (LoC) on Wednesday night, adds Rueters.

“No loss of life or damage to property was reported on either side so far,” a defence official said.

The exchanges, which also took place on Tuesday night, coincided with fresh clashes between Kashmiri Mujahideen and Indian forces in occupied Kashmir.

In the latest, seven Mujahideen were killed in a gunbattle in Poonch district, officials claimed.

“The slain militants (Mujahideen) belonged to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-i-Taiba outfit. We have also recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from them,” a defence spokesman said.