BSF officer, girl killed in Pak shelling in Poonch

A Border Security Force officer and a five-year-old girl were killed on Monday as Pakistani troops resorted to heavy shelling on forward areas along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, officials said.

Eleven persons, including six soldiers, were injured in the incident, they said.

A BSF officer was killed in ceasefire violation by Pakistani army along LoC in Poonch district, officials said.

Sobia, 5, was killed and two persons suffered injuries when a shell exploded near their house in a village in Shahpur sub-sector along LoC late Monday afternoon, they said.

The officials added that six houses were damaged in the intense shelling by Pakistani troopers.

Pakistan used heavy weaponry and 120 mm mortar bombs to target scores of civilian areas along LoC in Poonch, triggering panic among border residents, they said.

The firing and shelling by Pakistani army was going on intensely in Krishnagati, Kerni, Mankote, Gulpur, Degwar Shahpur and Poonch sub-sectors when the last reports came in.

This is the fourth consecutive day that Pakistan has violated ceasefire in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri.

Earlier in the day, three civilians -- Mohammad Sharief Magray, Haniefa Bi and Shoukat Hussain -- and an army man guarding a forward post in Mankote were injured in the intense shelling, the officials said.

A defence spokesperson said Pakistan violated the ceasefire around 7.40 am by shelling mortars and firing with small arms along the LoC in Shahpur and Kerni sectors of Poonch district.

Mortar shells landed in villages of Qasba, Mankote, Kerni, Guntariyan and Shahpur, forcing people to stay indoors, officials said.

As a precautionary measure, all schools in shelling-hit areas have been closed, they added.