Intense shelling from across the border last night led to yet another sleepless night for the residents of RS Pura and Arnia sector in Jammu and Kashmir. This comes after repeated instances of shelling, including one on Friday night, left two civilians dead and one BSF jawan injured.
Kishanlal, a local resident said, "We are living a very tough life. We are staying here for farms and animals. The firing has been going on since eight days. We are not able to earn any livelihood. Someone will come today and will take a look then go back, nothing will be done.
"Government should think something for us and find some solution. It has not taken any action regarding this," he added.
Rajkumar, another local, also explained that the residents feared for their lives.
He said, "So much firing takes place and we have no place to hide. No ministers have visited this place. We do not know when we can die. So much firing is taking place that we cannot even step out of the house. Three members of a family have died and two are in hospital. They are very serious."
Five members of the same family were injured in the ceasefire violation on Friday, out of whom the father and son succumbed to their injuries on Saturday. A BSF jawan was also injured in the firing.
Admitting that ceasefire violations by Pakistan have increased of late, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday had said the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Indian Army responded effectively to each such violation.
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"It's a fact that of late ceasefire violations by Pakistan have increased but let everybody be assured that both our Army and BSF are fully vigilant, they effectively respond to each violation," Jaitley said.
However, strongly rejecting Indian allegations of repeated ceasefire violations, Pakistan on Saturday had suggested that both sides consider holding an urgent meeting between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) to resolve the situation on the Line of Control (LoC).