December 18, 2002	Wednesday	Shawwal 13, 1423

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MUZAFFARABAD, Dec 17: Four people, including three members of the family, were killed and two others wounded when Indian troops targeted a southern town of Azad Jammu and Kashmir with mortars and medium artillery without any provocation on Tuesday, officials said.

The casualties occurred in Samahni in the southernmost Bhimbher district, after the unprovoked shelling started there at about 3pm and continued for more than half-an-hour.

One of the shells landed on a house in a locality where a wedding ceremony was being held. As a result, 40-year-old woman Nasim Akhtar and her two sons — Sajid, 12, and Amjad, 8 — were killed, deputy commissioner of Bhimbher Liaqat Hussain told Dawn by telephone.

The deputy commissioner said that a 50-year-old cab driver, Mohammad Ayub, was killed and two others were injured after a shell hit the Ayub’s taxi in which he had brought some guests to the wedding function from Kutla village in Gujrat.

A building of a college and at least eight other vehicles were damaged in the shelling, he added.

The DC said he was also in Samahni till 2pm and by that time there were no signs that shelling would begin, as the otherwise restive Line of Control had been calm in the area for past couple of weeks.