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Civilians desert Akhnoor sector due to heavy shelling

By Our Correspondent

A militant laying down arms before the SSP Kupwara frontier, Brig. B.S. Ghotra. — Photo: Nissar Ahmad.

Pallahwala (Akhnoor) June 5. Panic has gripped the forward villages of Akhnoor sector along the Line of Control due to shelling and heavy firing from across the border targeting civilian areas in the last one week. This has resulted in migrations from this sector as the Indo-Pak Line of Actual Control starts in the State.

Four days ago, a young girl in Garkwal, a forward village, lost her life and eight others were injured in shelling.

The villagers say that over 50 to 60 mortar shells fell in one hour and it has become a routine now.

The forward areas of this sector which go along the Chenab river like Gorh, Pallanwala,Pargwal , Gakhrial have witnessed heavy firing for the last many days and are being deserted by the civilian population .

The Devipur Camp close to Akhnoor city has thousands of families which have migrated from the forward areas of Akhnoor.

A sector commander told The Hindu that strategically this sector is one of the most important and "we know it very well that the troops on the other side will try to turn on the heat here whenever there is any escalation." Due to the heavy shelling, the remote and forward areas remain cut off as public transportation has come to a halt. during heavy firing.

Militants surrender

Eleven militants today surrendered before the civil administration at Drangpura in Handwara, 80 km from Srinagar. The militants belonged to Hizb-ul Mujahideen, Al-Fateh and Al-Barq.

An official spokesman told The Hindu that the surrender was possible by the joint efforts of the 7 Rashtriya Rifles and the Jammu and Kashmir police.

The security agencies got in touch with the families of the militants and motivated them to surrender.

In the surrender ceremony, the militants gave up a number of weapons before Brigadier B.S. Ghotra.

Meanwhile, six militants belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba were killed today by the security forces in Poonch district of Jammu region.

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