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Pakistani shelling along LoC kills five

Heavy shelling by Pakistani troops in the Machil sector along the Line of Control claimed the lives of five people, including three army personnel, even as the army rejected a Pakistani claim of foiling an Indian attempt to establish a new post in the Neelum valley sector.

The shelling took place at the Ashwini post manned by the 11 Sikh Light Infantry Regiment. The post suffered heavy damage.

Army sources identified two of the three personnel killed as Junior Commissioned Officer Sacha Singh and a Lance Naik, who was not named.

With the death of the three personnel, the army toll in the unprovoked and indiscriminate shelling in the Machil sector has risen to five in the last four days.

In response to the Pakistani army's claim of India trying to set up a post in the Neelum sector in 'violation of the established ground rules', Indian army spokesman Col Shruti Kant said, "There is no truth in the report. Indian army respects the LoC."

Meanwhile, nearly two dozen buildings, including a mosque and a school, have been damaged in the shelling in Machil, Kernah and Keran sectors of Kupwara district and Gurez in Baramulla district in the last 24 hours.

In Gurez two civilians, including a woman, were injured in the Pakistani shelling in the Markoot area, which continued till Saturday morning. Six houses, a high school and a zonal education office were also destroyed. Many residents have moved to safer places.

In Kupwara, Friday's shelling had forced shops and business establishments to close down.

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