The Indian Army on Tuesday stated that an unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and shells with mortars had been initiated from Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the statement issued by the Indian Army, the ceasefire violation was initiated by the Pakistani side at around 11:20 a.m. and the army is retaliating.
As of now, cross-border shelling between the two sides is underway, but there are no reports of any casualties.
According to the officials, shelling and firefights have been taking place on a daily basis over the last 15 days along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Several military personnel and militants have lost their lives in these firing. While fear has stuck the minds of people living near the border area since three civilians were killed last week in shelling by Pakistan”, an Indian Army official said.
According to the Defence Ministry, there were a total of 646 incidents of ceasefire violations along the International border and LoC between 1 January and 23 February this year.
Kashmir has been a bone of contention between the two nuclear-armed nations since independence from British rule in 1947.
The two countries have fought three wars since then over the territory, which is currently divided by the line of control (de-facto border). Bilateral relations between the two neighbours dipped to a fresh low when India revoked Kashmir's special status in August 2019.