Three persons, including a woman and child, were killed on Saturday in artillery shelling by Pakistan in Chowkibal, Kupwara, near the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir.
“Unprovoked ceasefire violation initiated by Pakistan in Keran Sector at 5pm. Pakistan now targets civilian population in the Kupwara sector near the Line of Control resulting in killing 3 innocent civilians including one woman and a child,” Army spokesman colonel Rajesh Kalia said in a statement.
The slain have been identified as Ziyan, 8, son of Bashir Ahmed, resident of Timuna-Vilgam village, Javeed Khan, 18, son of Ghulam Rasool Khan of Chowkibal, and Shameema Begum, 37, wife of Gulzar Ahmed Hajam of Chowkibal. A police officer said that a case has been registered while the assessment of damage is being ascertained.
According to police sources, the shells landed in several villages including Hajitara, Dhani, Chowkibal and Timuna-Vilgam.
According to reports, two houses were also damaged in the shelling. Some shells also damaged vehicles and triggered a fire.
Locals have fled the area and moved to safer locations.
For the past two days, Pakistan has been shelling the areas in Kupwara.
The Indian Army had launched precision artillery strikes on launch pad and ammunition dumps of Pakistan Army two days on Thursday in retaliation to the killing of five soldiers, including four Special Forces men and a JCO, on April 5 in an encounter with militants at Dongri Behak at Keran near the LoC.
The five soldiers were killed after a five-day operation in which the Army isolated the militants in a gorge and airdropped Special Forces to neutralise them in one of the most dangerous operations ever conducted by the Army in high snow and extremely difficult terrain.