Trepidation at Ground Zero of Pak shelling
Pakistani shelling along the LoC killed 16 civilians in Poonch, prompting mass evacuations as locals describe the bombardment as the heaviest in decades.
Jammu: Pakistani artillery and mortar fire along the Line of Control (LoC) left 16 civilians dead, including three women and five children, forcing an exodus from Jammu and Kashmir’s border district of Poonch.
The devastating bombardment—described by locals as the heaviest in decades—intensified on Wednesday, hours after Indian armed forces conducted airstrikes on nine terror hubs in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as part of Operation Sindoor, the external affairs ministry confirmed on Thursday.
“Over 200 mortar shells were fired in the town,” said Ajay Maini, 49, a government school teacher in Poonch. “Even the elders say they have never seen Pakistan firing so many mortars on Poonch, not even during the 1971 war. Then, Pakistan targeted military installations, while this time they have savagely targeted innocent civilians.”
The unprovoked shelling, which has continued for weeks in violation of the bilateral ceasefire agreement, claimed the life of 13-year-old Vihaan Bhargav when a Pakistani mortar struck his family’s Maruti Swift at Bhainch on NH144-A.
“The shell hit the little boy on his head and the sight of him bleeding from the head was heart-wrenching,” said Maini, who knew the boy’s father, Sanjeev Kumar Bhargav. The family had decided to flee after weathering shelling the previous night.
Around 1:15am Wednesday, residents awakened to explosions. “I went upstairs and saw mortars being fired at the town. I huddled my wife and two children to a room and prayed for our lives,” recalled Maini, a resident of Sandigate mohalla.
Hours later, artillery fire struck neighbour Amarjeet Singh’s house, hitting him in the chest and injuring 3-4 family members. Singh later succumbed to his injuries at Poonch hospital.
The ministry of external affairs reported 59 people injured in the shelling, with 44 casualties in the Poonch sector alone.
“Pakistan pounded the 7-km-long stretch from Poonch to Kalai, targeting vehicles,” said Vicky Gupta, 24, who sheltered in a basement after calling his father at 1:50am. “My father fortified it with concrete walls. It acted as a life saviour,” Gupta explained, noting the same basement protected his family during the 1971 war.
An eerie silence engulfed Poonch town and nearby villages such as Jhallas, Salotri, Digwar, Ajote, Khari, Gulpur and Nalla along the LoC on Thursday after approximately 90% of residents fled to Surankote, Jammu and other safer locations.
“Commercial establishments remained closed and no passenger traffic plied on Thursday. Almost the entire town has been vacated with only 100 to 150 odd families remaining, living in fear,” said local resident Sandeep Kumar.
Najmul Haq, another resident, reported that Pakistani shelling became less intense after 2:30pm Wednesday “only after India retaliated strongly to their artillery fire.”
The border district remains particularly vulnerable due to its geographic position, explained Pradeep Khanna, 68, a retired education department official who witnessed the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars.
Spread across 1,674sq km south of the Pir Panjal range, Poonch has a population of nearly 500,000. Poonch city alone has about 100,000 residents, comprising Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs in almost equal proportion, though Muslims remain the majority in the district.
The town is surrounded by Pakistani positions in Ajote, Digwar, Malti and Gulpur sectors. The aerial distance from the LoC to Poonch town ranges from 500 metres to 1km, with road distances of 3-4km.
Similar situations were reported from Mendhar town, where Vishal Sharma noted, “Majority of Hindu families have migrated to safer areas including Jammu, while Muslims have returned to their villages away from Pakistan’s firing range. Only government employees and those with businesses remain in the town.”
