MUZAFFARABAD: Indian shelling from across the Line of Control left another four civilians injured in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Thursday, officials said.

The casualties occurred in and around Seri village, said Anwar Shaheen, a revenue department official based in the area.

Seri village is located in Khuiratta tehsil of Kotli district. On Wednesday, seven civilians were injured in this village alone, out of the total 19 casualties in three AJK districts.

Mr Shaheen identified the victims of Thursday’s shelling as Muhammad Sharif, 63; Hadia Shaheen, 32; Nusrat Akbar, 26; and her 18-year-old sibling Javeria Akbar.

The heavily militarised LoC has been witnessing ceasefire violations for long in a breach of November 2003 agreement between the two armies, causing mostly civilian casualties.

According to an official of the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), 15 people have so far lost their lives and another 101 suffered injuries due to Indian shelling in the ongoing year.

According to officials, in order to protect the residents the authorities are planning to build bunkers in areas that are vulnerable to Indian shelling. About 300 such bunkers will be constructed soon in Nakyal, Charhoi and Khuiratta tehsils.

Another 200 bunkers will be built in three villages of Abbaspur tehsil and one village of Hajira tehsil.

Pakistan claims that India violated the ceasefire along LoC 1,970 times in 2017 against 168 two years earlier, and 415 times until the beginning of March 2018, according to AFP.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2018