Sounds of continuous gunfire, deafening blasts, hundreds of frightened locals trekking with their family and possessions through dark mountain passes.
This was the scene at Uri on Sunday as narrated by Abdul Aziz, an engineer who fled to Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmirs summer capital, along with his family after one of the biggest exchange of gun fire in years between Indian and Pakistani troops across the Line of Control (LOC).
Like the Aziz family, many others left their homes in dozens of villages along the India-Pakistan border for safer areas.
It looks as if war has broken out on the borders. It is after several years that we have seen soldiers firing heavy artillery from Uri town, said a nervous Aziz, who feels the mortar shelling must have led to several casualties and damage to property on both sides.
Indian and Pakistani troops are deployed along the hilly and difficult terrain along the entire 1,300 km stretch of the Line of Control. Heavy artillery pieces are in place on both sides of the border, military officials said.
Border skirmishes are common between the two armies, but three major incidents of cross-firing since last year have worried authorities.
On April 9 to 15 this year, a number of villages in Kargil, near the national highway leading to Ladakh, came under shelling from Pakistani troops killing six persons and forcing thousands of locals to flee their homes and live in tents and army barracks.
Observers noted the timing of the attack which coincided with a meeting of the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan in New Delhi being held after a gap of three years.
Pakistani generals want to vitiate the atmosphere so as to scuttle the attempt of their political leadership to negotiate for peace, said an Indian Defence spokesman, Major Puroshottam.
Having failed to do anything spectacular during the 50th anniversary of Indian Independence, their attempt by heavy unprovoked firing all along the Line of Control is to escalate tension in Kashmir, which is fast returning to normalcy, he said.
Nearly all border villages in Jammu and Kashmir came under fire from Pakistani troops, Indian military officials said. The firing was reported to be maximum in Kupwara and Uri.
There was also a heavy exchange of artillery fire in the mountainous Siachin glacier, the worlds highest battlefield.
Indian soldiers retaliated the fire at 0830 hours on Sunday morning, inflicting heavy casualties on the Pakistan side, an army officer told IANS. Indian troops saw Pakistanis carrying their dead or injured in ambulances, he claimed.
An Indian army officer, Major Depinder Buchar, along with two soldiers were killed in the exchange of fire in the Uri sector, he said.
Indian army cannot be expected to be mute observer to such brazen acts of provocation. We have to safeguard life and property of our population and maintain sanctity of our borders, the officer said.
Two villagers including a woman were killed last week when Pakistani troops fired in Chandura village in Uri. In another incident, rockets were fired in Poonch and Uri area without any loss of life.
