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5 killed, 7 hurt in Pak shelling on J&K town

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

Five persons were killed and seven others injured in heavy Pakistani shelling last night on Tangdhar in north Kashmir where a dozen shops and houses were destroyed.

Police sources said Pakistani troops rained shells on Tangdhar town last night, resulting in heavy loss of property. Artillery shells have been hitting Tangdhar for the past three days, but sources said last night's shelling was the heaviest so far.

Five civilians, including a four-year-old girl, were killed. The seven others who received serious injuries are undergoing treatment in the local army hospital.

The shells hit houses and the main market in Tangdhar town. Five houses and seven shops were destroyed.

Only two ago, two women were killed and three others wounded in heavy Pakistani shelling in the area. Sources said the Indian Army effectively returned the artillery fire and the exchanges continued till this morning.

The area along the Line of Control in the Tangdhar sector of Kupwara district is highly tense. Artillery exchanges along the LoC in north Kashmir have continued through this winter. The Tangdhar area had also witnessed heavy shelling by Pakistan in July 1998. The area remains cut off in winter as snow covers the mountain passes. Supplies have to be dumped for the winter months in advance, which is usually done in the summer months.

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