MUZAFFARABAD, Jan 11: Three students of a Madressah were critically injured in Indian shelling from across the Line of Control in Neelum valley on Saturday, civil and military officials said.

The casualties occurred when a medium artillery shell fell near the compound of Darul Aloom Islamia Hanfia in Salkhala village in the lower belt of valley, some 77 kilometres northeast of here.

Three students, who were in the Madressah, were injured due to splinters of the shell. Identified as Mohammad Ashraf, 9, son of Sibqatullah; Sudhir, 9, son of Mohammad Bashir; and Latifur Rehman, 10, son of Mangta Khan, they were admitted to a local military hospital.

At least two houses were also damaged by the shelling in the same village.