MUZAFFARABAD: A man was killed after he stepped on a anti-personnel landmine in the proximity of the heavy militarised Line of Control (LoC) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Monday, police said.

Abid Hussain, son of Khadim Hussain, had gone to work in his field along the unmarked dividing line in Baghsar Samahni sector in the early hours where met this tragedy, said Mir Muhammad Abid, senior superintendent of police (SSP) in Bhimber.

“The victim unknowingly stepped on the landmine which went off, killing him on the spot,” he said.

On July 3, Ladzadi, 45, who was grazing cattle along the LoC in Bugna village of Neelum Valley was seriously injured after stepping on an anti-personnel mine.

She had got her foot and ankle completely crushed, following which doctors had to sever her leg some four inches above the ankle to save her life.

The nearly 740km-long LoC is still dotted with anti-personnel landmines, though a very few casualties have occurred on the AJK side in the recent past.

According to officials, since the LoC is an unmarked dividing line, many a time villagers stray across it while grazing cattle, cutting fodder or plucking medicinal plants and end up in trouble.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2020