MUZAFFARABAD: Six civilians, four of them young children between the ages of six and 14 years, were injured in two sectors of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Thursday after Indian troops resorted to shelling from across the Line of Control, local police and military said on Friday.

The Indian troops targeted civilian population in Chirikot sector in yet another violation of the ceasefire agreement without any provocation.

The Chirikot sector stretches out from Haveli to Poonch district.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that Pakistan army effectively responded to the Indian shelling by targeting their posts.

Pakistan army’s retaliatory fire left five Indian soldiers dead and many others injured, it added.

Giving details of civilian casualties, the ISPR and local police said that Shabnam, 35, and her two sons Kashan Ali, 13, and Faizan Ali, 6, and Nisha Shafique, 14, and her sister Asifa Shafique, 10, were injured in Seerhiyan village of Haveli district while Shahid Hussain, 28, was injured in Chaffar village of Poonch district.

All the injured were taken to Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahayan Hospital, Rawalakot.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2019