MUZAFFARABAD: Pak­is­tani and Indian troops traded gunfire across the Line of Control and the Working Boundary on Saturday, bringing to an end a pause in clashes that have so far claimed 17 lives — all civilians — on both sides.

According to observers, the skirmishes are the worst in a decade.

The fighting had stopped abruptly on Thursday night after nine days of hostilities.

But on Saturday, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), India’s Border Security Force resorted to unprovoked shelling along the Line of Control. The heavy mortar and machinegun fire in the Neza Pir sector lasted seven hours.

The ISPR spokesman said the Pakistan Army “effectively responded to India’s unprovoked firing”.

“Every ceasefire violation by India at the LoC and the Working Boundary will meet with a befitting response,” he added.

70-year-old man injured in Azad Kashmir village

A 70-year-old man, Wali Mohammad, was injured in Azad Kashmir’s Mohri Kerni village.

Elsewhere in Azad Kashmir, the LoC was by and large calm, but fear still prevailed in many areas.

“There has been no shelling over the past two days in this area, but fear and uncertainty refuse to go away,” police official Naveed Kabir said about Darra Sher Khan, the remotest village in Poonch district.

“The movement of people is not like what it used to be. People have a sneaking feeling that shelling may resume any time,” he told Dawn by telephone.

Mr Kabir said Darra Sher Khan had gone through fierce cross-border shelling. A girl died after shells landed on her house on Tuesday night, he added.

“The atmosphere is tense. People leave their homes secretly and only out of sheer necessity. Traffic is still thin.”

The LoC was relatively calm in the southern Kotli district.

“Except for intermittent post-to-post fire in the Tatta Pani sector, there has not been any incidence of heavy shelling over the past two days,” said the deputy commissioner of Kotli, Chaudhry Shaukat Ali.

“Life has been affected in highly vulnerable areas. Nevertheless, we are trying our best to keep the situation normal,” he said.

Abid Hussain Mehdi adds from Sialkot: After a lull lasting 24 hours, India’s Border Security Forces (BSF) resor­ted to heavy shelling of border villages in the Charwah sector of Sialkot Working Boundary on Saturday.

According to the Chenab Rangers, the BSF fired heavy shells on villages near the border. Charwah, Dhamaala, Rangoor, Bhagiyaari and Kin­gra villages bore the brunt of India’s aggression, a Rangers spokesmen said. The BSF she­lling went on for two hours.

No loss of life or property was reported because the villages had already been evacuated.

“The Chenab Rangers retaliated instantly and effectively, silencing the Indian guns.”

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2014