Pakistani troops violate ceasefire for 8th night, residents near LoC begin readying bunkers

The officials on Thursday said that the Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing along the Line of Control LoC and International Border IB in five districts of Jammu and Kashmir prompting retaliation from the Indian Army reported news agency PTIThis is the eighth consecutive night of unprovoked firing along the LoC amid heightened tensions following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people were killedCivilians living along the LoC and IB have begun cleaning their community and individual bunkers to make them habitable in case of escalation to shelling reported PTIDuring the night of May 12 2025 Pakistani Army posts resorted to unprovoked small arms fire from posts across the LoC opposite Kupwara Baramulla Poonch Naushera and Akhnoor areas of Jammu and Kashmir a defence spokesperson in Jammu told PTIIndian Army troops responded in a calibrated and proportionate manner the spokesperson addedInitially beginning with unprovoked small arms firing at several posts along the LoC in the Kupwara and Baramulla districts of north Kashmir Pakistan swiftly expanded its ceasefire violations to the Poonch sector and subsequently to the Akhnoor sector of the Jammu regionThis was followed by small arms firing at several posts along the LoC in the Sunderbani and Naushera sectors of Rajouri district Subsequently the firing expanded to the Pargwal sector along the International Border in Jammu districtThe renewed ceasefire violations come despite a recent hotline conversation between the Directors General of Military Operations DGMOs of India and Pakistan during which the Indian side is learnt to have cautioned PakistanSince the night of April 24 just hours after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty following the terror attack in Pahalgam Pakistani troops have been resorting to unprovoked firing at various places along the LoC in JampK starting from the Kashmir ValleyOn April 24 Pakistan blocked its airspace for Indian airlines closed the Wagah border crossing suspended all trade with India and warned that any attempt to divert water would be considered an Act of WarThe ceasefire along the borders was reaffirmed in February 2021 when both countries agreed to observe the 2003 agreement in letter and spirit However the current situation marks a significant departure from the relative calm maintained since thenIndia shares a total of 3323 km of border with Pakistan divided into three parts the International Border IB approximately 2400 km from Gujarat to the northern banks of the Chenab River in Akhnoor Jammu the Line of Control LoC 740 km long running from parts of Jammu to parts of Leh and the Actual Ground Position Line AGPL 110 km long dividing the Siachen region from NJ 9842 to Indira Col in the northCivilians living along the LoC and IB have begun cleaning their community and individual bunkers to make them habitable in case of escalation to shellingCivilians living along the LoC and IB started clearing their community and individual bunkers and are getting them cleaned so as to be make them habitable in case of escalation to shellingThe Union government sanctioned the construction of 14460 individual and community bunkers in 2017 Officials said that over 8600 community and individual bunkers have been built in five districts Samba Kathua Jammu Poonch and RajouriWhile the harvesting of crops along R S Pura and Arnia sectors along the IB has been completed it is still going on in Kathua Samba Rajouri and Poonch districtsThis is being done in view of the tensions along the borders an official told PTIWith inputs from PTIatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params