Poonch-Rawalakot bus service suspended due to Pakistan shelling

Authorities on Monday suspended the scheduled run of the Poonch-Rawalakot bus service due to cross-border shelling by the Pakistan Army.

For the second consecutive day, the Pakistan Army indulged in unprovoked firing and indiscriminate shelling in Chakan Da Bagh area of the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district.

Defence sources said the Pakistan Army has been targeting four villages besides the Indian Army positions along the LoC on Monday.

"Some 82 mm mortar shells have landed inside the complex of the Trade Facilitation Centre at Chakan Da Bagh and for the safety of the staff, they have been shifted from there," official sources said in Jammu.

The Poonch-Rawalakot bus service was started in 2006 as a Confidence-Building Measure between India and Pakistan.

The district authorities also ordered closure of schools in villages where mortar shells from Pakistan have landed.

The Indian Army has been effectively retaliating Pakistan shelling and firing.

Exchanges between the two sides continued intermittently for the second day on Monday, defence sources said.

--IANS

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