ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

Five more Kashmiris die in Pak shelling

Five civilians were killed on Sunday evening when Pakistani troops resumed shelling along the border in North Kashmir.

Thus, the death toll in the past five days has risen to 30, an official spokesman said. The victims comprise six jawans, two Border Security Force constables and 22 civilians.

Fiftysix jawans, two BSF constables and 76 civilians have been injured in the current spate of firing.

The spokesman said Sunday's victims, all of them killed in Uri sector, included two women. Of this, two died in Baramulla district. Thirteen houses were damaged.

A civilian was wounded in Gurez sector.

Intermittent exchange of fire between the troops is continuing, though at a subdued level, in Machal, Karen and Kanzalwan sectors.

However, the Kargil sector in Ladakh, usually a hot-spot, was calm on Sunday.

On Saturday, three members of a family were killed and 15 others injured in intense shelling in North Kashmir and at Kargil. Reports said that hundreds of families have migrated to safer places from Uri, Ring Payeen, Dina, Tantray Basti, Keran, Karnah and Kargil towns.

Police sources said for the first time shells landed in the main market in Uri, triggering off migration. At Sultan Daki, a village near the town, civilian Abdul Aziz Khan's house took two direct hits, killing him, his wife and daughter.

Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah, who is in London, had rushed Forest Minister Mohammad Ramzan Chowdhary to the border villages to take stock of the situation.

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar, UNI

RELATED REPORT:
Islamabad accuses India of 'indiscriminate' shelling on PoK

Tell us what you think of this report