Over 1,000 civilians, including women and children, stranded due to the Pakistani shelling and firing, were rescued in guarded ambulances in Baramulla’s Uri on Saturday, as the ceasefire agreement in force in the area since 2003 started to fall apart.
The Pakistan Army asked locals on the Indian side to “empty the villages on the zero line using loud speakers of their village mosques”.
“Pakistan has widened its firing target in Uri. There were announcements made on speakers. Around eight villages with a population of around 5,000 were affected due to the firing and the shelling. We managed to shift over 1,000 civilians amid firing. Over 600 were put up inside the Girls Higher Secondary School in Uri town,” sub-divisional magistrate, Uri, Sagar D. told The Hindu .
Pakistan fired from two sides at Uri town, which is surrounded on three sides by Pakistan pickets. From Jammu’s Pir Panchal valley, “major ceasefire violations” have started in the Kashmir valley since February 22, the first since the Kargil war of 1999 and have displaced over 1,500 civilians so far.
The trigger was the killing of a BSF jawan in Kupwara on February 20. The Indian Army in retaliation “destroyed” several army pickets of the Pakistan Army in Uri Sector in the past two days.
‘Emergency-like’
Mr. Sagar said it was an “emergency-like situation” on Saturday when civilians, caught up in Silikote and Tilawardi, started frantically calling the administration for evacuation. Two ambulances and other vehicles were pressed into service to help the stranded civilians. Around 200 blankets were arranged and community kitchens arranged. “We are fully prepared for any kind of eventuality,” said Mr. Sagar.
The Army said Pakistan resorted to “unprovoked firing at 11:50 a.m. and the fire was retaliated effectively”. The exchange of fire in Uri stopped by 7 p.m. It remained intense between 12 and 3 p.m. “No casualties were reported,” said Mr. Sagar.
Muhammad Sidiq Awan, who saw his house turn into a fire ball, said, “It was raining since morning. Then it rained bullets and shells. I saw my house go up in flames, and the earth hit by snipers. Allah saved us somehow.” At least four houses caught fire in the shelling, according to the villagers.
Naseer Ahmad, a Class 5 student, who was preparing to rejoin classes after the three-month-long winter vacation, was depressed due to shelling. “I saw flames. The bullets were hitting right and left,” said Ahmad.
Villagers of Uri’s Charunda, Tilawari, Thajal, Batgram, Hathinanga, Sahoora and Balkote in the Haji Pir Sector said “they are reliving the pre-ceasefire agreement era again”.
“We demand ceasefire from both sides. Bullets will achieve nothing. We appeal to the Indian Army to stop firing where there is civilian population. Let India and Pakistan talk. We are facing a grind for no fault of ours,” said Lal Hussain Kohli, a villager.
