SRINAGAR: More than 10,000 residents of border areas along India-Pakistan frontier in Jammu region have abandoned their homes by Tuesday as tensions escalated in the wake of increasing shelling by the two sides.
Pakistan has claimed that India shelled the border and killed four civilians, while India has accused Pakistan of killing one of its border guards Monday. India said that the four Pakistanis killed by Indian security forces were plotting an attack on India.
An Indian official said, “Following indiscriminate targeting of civilian areas along the international border by Pakistan on Monday, more people have abandoned their homes close to the border in Samba and Kathua districts The number of villagers lodged in makeshift accommodations at safer places has crossed 10,000 and their migration is continuing today (Tuesday).”
On New Year’s Eve, the Indian military killed two Pakistani soldiers on the border.
Last week, India announced a nationwide alert in anticipation of visits by the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and President Obama in January. Kerry will also visit Pakistan. The U.S. provides economic and military anti-terrorism support to Pakistan. The Indian government sees Kerry of being pro-Pakistan.
India and Pakistan accuse each other of violating the 2003 ceasefire agreement which intensified after the BJP-led government at the Centre called off its foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan. But it is the ordinary people living in the remote corners along IB and Line of Control that have to pay the price of the animosity between the two countries.
BSF Director General DK Pathak is scheduled to visit the International Border today to take stock of the situation.
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