Soldier killed, 2 injured in Pak firing in Poonch

An army jawan was killed and two others were injured when Pakistani troops opened fire and shelled areas along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Sunday.

The jawan is the third army personnel to die in Pakistani firing and shelling on forward posts and villages in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri this month.

“Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation on the LoC in Poonch sector on Saturday (night). Own troops responded strongly to the enemy fire and in the incident, Sepoy Lungambui Abonmei was critically injured and later succumbed to his injuries,” a defence spokesman said.

He said sepoy Abonmei was a brave, highly motivated and a sincere soldier.

“The nation will always remain indebted to him for his supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty,” the spokesman said.

The officials said two more soldiers, Sepoy Lienkhothien Senghon and Sepoy Tangsoik Kwianiungar, were injured in the firing and subsequently airlifted to the army base hospital in Udhampur.

The three soldiers were injured in Pakistani firing and shelling in Shahpur-Kerni sector during the overnight shelling, the officials said

The mortal remains of the deceased soldier were handed over to his unit after postmortem at district hospital Poonch and is being dispatched to his home town in Assam for last rites, they said.

They said the casualties suffered by the Pakistani Army in the retaliatory action were not known immediately.

On June 4, havaldar P Mathiazhagan fell to the Pakistani firing in Sunderbani sector of Rajouri district, while on June 10, Naik Gurcharan Singh lost his life in a similar incident in Rajouri sector.