Three soldiers were injured in overnight shelling by Pakistani troops on the Line of Control (LoC) in the Pir Panjal range on Friday.
J&K Parliamentary Affairs Minister Abdul Rehman Veerri said Pakistan resorted to “indiscriminate” firing in the past 24 hours in the Mankote sector of Poonch.
“The firing started at 4.20 p.m. on Thursday. Three personnel of the Army’s 22 Sikh Regiment were injured. The Gulpur and Balakote sectors also witnessed firing,” Mr. Veeri said. “The fire was retaliated.”
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The injured jawans were identified as Havildar Lakhvinder Singh, Havildar Balvir Singh and Lance Naik Charandeep Singh. One of them was airlifted to Udhampur for “specialised treatment”.
Zainab Bi, 45, was reported dead in the Balnoi hamlet after mortars exploded in the area on Thursday.
The LoC in the Jammu region has witnessed heightened tension since February 4, when four Army personnel were killed in shelling by Pakistanis in Rajouri.
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Mehbooba for talks
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who expressed sadness over the killing of a woman, pitched for dialogue between India and Pakistan.
“We must open a dialogue to avoid further casualties,” she said.
Vice-Chief in Valley
The Vice-Chief of the Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Sarath Chand, and Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra arrived in Srinagar on Friday and “reviewed the overall security situation in the Valley”.
An Army spokesman said Lt. Gen. Chand and Mr. Mitra were briefed by the commanders about “operational preparedness as well as the measures taken to meet the security and weather-related challenges”.
The Vice-Chief, the spokesman said, emphasised the need for “undertaking relentless intelligence-based operations to sustain pressure on the terrorist groups and maintain a high degree of vigil along the LoC.”
Mr. Mitra visited the forward areas along the LoC. He was briefed by 15 Corps commander Lt. General A.K. Bhatt.