Pakistan Army targets civilian areas in Poonch; houses, water tanks suffer heavy damage

POONCH(Jammu and Kashmir): Pakistan Army on Saturday continued to target civilian areas in the Poonch sector in Jammu and Kashmir by conducting heavy shelling. Houses, water tanks, and other civil infrastructure suffered heavy damage in the attack.

Local residents told that Pakistani strikes targeted places of worship as well.

“The entire house is damaged. The adjacent houses have also suffered damage…Pakistan is targeting civilian areas…They are deliberately targeting Poonch…Gurdwara, temples and mosques – they have not spared anything,” Balbir Singh, a local resident, said.

“This is all the nefarious design of Pakistan that it is targeting civilians…People are scared, but they have the spirit that they will continue to live here and stand with the Indian Army…We were uprooted in 1947 and then came to live here. A massive firing is ongoing now. We will not leave Poonch and go anywhere else. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with the Army and Administration. They may bomb us as much as they want, we will not be scared,” he added.

Pakistan also targeted a temple in Jammu’s Roop Nagar area, officials said on Saturday.

The strike occurred near the main gate of the Aap Shambhu Temple. Jammu Police and other agencies are retrieving projectile fragments. According to the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), no lives have been lost in the incident. J-K police and other agencies are at the scene, and the area has been cordoned off.

SDRF personnel Rashpal Singh told ANI, “…Our team is here. There is no causality… The projectile debris fell in the open.”

About the incident, a local emphasised that Pakistan will face a befitting reply.

“It is the main gate of Shambhu temple where people come to offer prayers early in the morning, but the siren was activated, and hence fewer people were here. Pakistan will face a fitting reply,” he said.

Visuals from the incident spot showcase that the debris was found between a cluster of houses. The local residents narrowly escaped from the situation.

According to a local resident, Ashraf, an explosion was heard at around 05:45 am. He spotted a blast in the air, after which he found out fragments of unidentified debris scattered in various parts of the house. He contacted with the local head after which the police arrived at the spot and recovered the fragments.

“There was a loud explosion at 5.45 am… Following that, we came here…There was an object found lying here…We called up the Local Head, who then called up the Police. They came and retrieved it then. We didn’t know what it was…There are no casualties”, he said.

On Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs strongly condemned Pakistan for deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure, including schools and places of worship. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had criticised Pakistan for intentionally shelling gurdwaras, churches, and temples along the Line of Control (LoC), describing the attacks as “a new low even for Pakistan.” (ANI)