MUZAFFARABAD, Jan 11: A teenaged boy was killed and another was critically injured in Indian shelling from across the Line of Control in Poonch district of Azad Kashmir on Friday, officials said.

They said Indian troops started shelling, using machine-guns, mortars and medium artillery, in at least three districts of the liberated territory on Friday without any provocation. The shelling was continuing till the filing of this report.

The army, they said, was retaliating to “silence the enemy guns.”

A police official in Rawalakot told Dawn by telephone that the “enemy troops started targeting villages in Abbaspur, Hajira and Sehra sectors from 6pm. “Earlier they were silent since Thursday night.”

The shelling caused on the spot death of 17-year-old Mohammad Shafiq, son of Mohammad Rafiq, in Chafar village in the Abbaspur sector, the official said and added that 11-year-old Mohammad Waseem, son of Abdul Karim, was wounded in the same village after fragments of a shell hit him in the head.

A police official in Muzaffarabad said Indian shelling in Bagh district began at 5pm, targeting the villages in Kahuta sector. The reports on the losses in that sector were not available immediately, he added.

Shelling was also reported from the upper belt of Neelum valley and the Indian troops were said to be targeting the Karen bypass to halt the vehicular movement.