Shabir Khan
There has been panic since the exchange of heavy gunfire between the Armies of India and Pakistan in several areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu Kashmir, People are scared.
The Indian Army said that the Pakistani Army on Friday without any provocation fired towards India’s forward posts in which four soldiers of the Indian Army and 6 civilians including an 8-year-old child were killed.
Four residential houses were completely destroyed and dozens of others suffered severe damages in Balkote and Kamalkote frontier villages of Uri after Indo-Pak army exchanged gunfire and mortar shells along Line of Control (LoC).
The shooting that occurred a day before Diwali resulted in heavy losses in these villages, the list of casualties included a woman who was a mother to 5 children, There is also an 8-year-old boy who died.
A young man lost both his legs. Many houses have been badly damaged, The Indian Army claimed that eight Pakistani army personnel were killed in retaliation by the Indian Army.
Though, the shelling is now off in these villages. But the stress conditions at the LoC remain high.
Baramulla- The worst affected
The affected villages areas Hajipir, Batkotte, Kamalakote, Chichi, Maya, Lachipora, Kupwara, and Gohalan, Tulail, Bagtore, Gurez villages in Bandipora district adjoining LoC in Uri sector of Baramulla district.
As per the Indian Army, These villages were fired by the Pakistani army who fired heavy mortar shells towards the Indian side.
During the shelling, a mortar shell landed inside the house of 30-year-old woman Begum Farooq in Balakote in which Begum was killed.
Begum’s husband Farooq Ahmed is shocked at the death of his wife, They have five children including three daughters.
The youngest child daughter, Rutaba Jan, is 16 months old, unaware that her mother has died.
Farooq, remembering the tragic scene said – ‘The firing started at 11 am. At that time we were sitting in the house. Then many shells fell inside the house. A ball of fire fell on my wife and she died on the spot. After this, there were blasts and sirens throughout the day. For this reason, he had to wait about 10 hours till 9 o’clock to bury his wife.’
The ‘Shelling spared no one’
A Labourer named Ahmad Khan says he cannot forget the tragic scenes and fears for his young children. He awaits the Government compensation as his house was also damaged during the shelling.
In Gohalan, 8-year-old boy Afrar Ahmed died due to the grip of splinters. Ahmed told The Kashmiriyat, ‘Everyone has suffered here. The shelling did not spare anyone. Women, children, youth were killed or injured. ‘
Syed Nadir Hussain (36) from Kamalkote area of Uri has lost both his legs, he is completely disabled. A shell had fallen at his feet.
He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. A local seeing Nadir Hussain in the hospital said that this was the first time that Pakistani troops fired so intensely in all areas of Uri.
He said, “Indiscriminate firing began on Friday and continued till 9 o’clock at night. Everyone was running for their safety. We spent the night in government buildings away from home.”
In Tangdhar area, residents spent Saturday night away from their homes amidst intense cold.
Mohammad Siddiq speaking to The Kashmiriyat said- ‘When the shelling started, we left our house and spent the night at our relative’s house. We live in constant fear because there is often a war-like situation. We do not know when the shell will start falling on our houses again. ‘
Sub Divisional Magistrate Riyaz Ahmed told The Kashmiriyat that around 1.25 lakh people live in Uri subdivision. He said that 30 houses and several other constructions have suffered partial damage.
He said a team has been sent to the affected area to assess the loss. He added that many livestock also perished in the shelling.
“Several live mortar shells were also found in Uri areas including Kamlakote, Barsari and Kundi. A team comprising of Police, Army, and Revenue department officials have been sent to the spot and the live shells will be defused,” he told The Kashmiriyat adding, “People are in panic after the firing,” he added.