With Pakistan shelling, border residents being moved to safe places

In the wake of firing by Pakistani forces, residents staying in areas along the border in Jammu and Kashmir are being moved to safe places and health and medical facilities are being provided to the injured, union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Tuesday.

"The administration has geared up, residents are being moved to safer spots," Singh, who is Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, told reporters here.

"In the current kind of turmoil, with shelling happening here and there, the immediate requirement is to move injured civilians to safer areas; that is happening," Singh said.

"The health department is in action. I have told the administration to let me know if some injured need to to be shifted to Delhi," he said.

The minister also said it was "disgusting" that while India abstained from firing during Eid, the Pakistani side did not practise restraint during Diwali.

"What is most disgusting is that whenever there is a festival like Eid, there is restraint from Indian side but that did not happen from Pakistan's side during Diwali," he said.

His remarks came as seven civilians, including five women, were killed and 15 others were injured on Tuesday as Pakistani troopers bombarded several areas of Jammu and Kashmir with heavy mortar shells, triggering mass migration from dozens of frontier villages.

Five civilians were killed in Ramgarh in the frontier district of Samba on the International Border, while two others died in Rajouri on the Line of Control -- the de facto border that divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

A police spokesperson said the dead in Ramgarh sector included a girl, 16, and two women. A total of 15 civilians were injured in the shelling from across the border.

--IANS

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