Kashmiri locals flee to bunkers as Pakistan fires across LoC post strikes

Many families in border districts of Kashmir were forced to flee homes or seek shelter in bunkers after Pakistan retaliated with heavy artillery firing across the LoC

Tensions are escalating along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir after the Indian armed forces launched missile strikes on nine terrorist infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).

 

Residents in the border villages of Uri, Tangdhar, Baramulla and Kupwara districts reported heavy shelling in recent days, according to a report by The Indian Express. Many families were forced to move to underground bunkers or leave their villages after artillery fire damaged their homes.

 

Quoting a resident from Tangdhar, the report said that locals were compelled to move to underground shelters, and at least four houses in his neighbourhood caught fire after being struck by shells. He added that this was the heaviest shelling in the area in recent years. 

 

 

Locals in the Uri sector recalled that firing began around 11 pm, with shells landing deep into heavily populated areas, prompting them to evacuate to safer zones.

 

The shelling reportedly began late Tuesday night after India’s Operation Sindoor, in which terrorist sites were targeted in Pakistan and PoJK.

 

Pakistan retaliated to Operation Sindoor by firing artillery across the LoC, leading to the deaths of three civilians and injuring ten others. Following the heavy shelling, the Indian Army responded in equal measure, news agency PTI reported.

 

Operation Sindoor

 

In response to the 22 April Pahalgam terror attack in Baisaran Valley, which claimed the lives of 26 people, including one Nepali citizen, the Indian armed forces launched Operation Sindoor on the intervening night of 6 and 7 May, targeting nine sites. 

 

An Indian Embassy press release stated that only terrorist sites were targeted in the operation. The Ministry of Defence also released a statement, saying: “A little while ago, the Indian armed forces launched ‘Operation Sindoor’, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed.”