Pakistan forces target Indian civilians deliberately: BSF

JAMMU: Pakistani border guarding force, with active connivance of its Army, have resorted to heavy mortar shelling deliberately towards Indian civilian areas along the International Border, Inspector General of BSF D K Upadhyay said today.

Addressing a press conference, Upadhyay said Pakistan Army is giving full support to Pakistan Rangers, which have violated ceasefire "countless" times in recent past.

"Pakistani forces are firing heavy mortars deliberately towards Indian civilian areas. BSF never fires towards any Pakistani civilian area. We fire only towards military bunkers from where Pakistani forces fire. We have inflicted heavy damage on 14 Pakistani bunkers," he said.

Upadhyay said if there was any civilian casualty in the Pakistani side, it was because the civilian population live very close to the military bunkers that might have resulted in "collateral" damage.

The senior officer of the Border Security Force also showed images of BSF's firing which targeted only military bunkers in Pakistan.

In an escalation on the tension along border, eight people, including two children and four women, were killed and 22 injured yesterday as Pakistani troops targeted civilian areas in Jammu region inviting strong retaliation by Indian forces who killed two Pakistani soldiers and destroyed their 14 posts.

In view of increased shelling and firing by Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered closure of all the 400 schools along the International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC).

With cross-border firing escalating, Home Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the situation at a meeting in Delhi which was attended by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag and other top officials.

Tension along the IB and LOC escalated since the surgical strikes by army targeting terror launch pads in Pakistan- occupied Kashmir (PoK) on September 29.