SIALKOT: A villager was killed and three Rangers personnel and 12 civilians were injured in firing by Indian security forces in the Sialkot Working Boundary area on Sunday morning.

According to senior security officials based here, it was the second time in 12 hours that the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) had resorted to shelling in the Suchetgarh and Bajra Garhi sectors.

They said the BSF used small mortar shells and G-2 gun ammunition during the shelling that lasted two hours.

“The Chenab Rangers retaliated and gave a befitting response on both the occasions,” an officer said. He said the first exchange of fire occurred on Saturday night and continued for 50 minutes.

He said that 16 Pakistanis were injured on Sunday morning. They were taken to the Combined Military Hospital in Sialkot, where one of them, Mohammad Khalid, a 38-year-old civilian, died.

He added that three Chenab Rangers personnel — Shah Nawaz, Tariq and Ikram — were admitted to the CMH in critical condition.

The hospital sources identified the injured civilians as Kaneez Bibi, Naheed Bibi, Ahad, Tauqeer, Iqra, Tanzeela, Maria, Nayab, Sameena Kausar, Ghulam Raza, Ali Qasim and Ghulam Hussain.

Reports said that several houses had been badly damaged by the shelling. A PML-N legislator, Zahid Hamid, visited the affected villages.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan expressed concern over shelling by Indian forces.

Talking to journalists, she said that Pakistan had lodged a protest with Indian authorities over the death of a citizen.

Reuters adds: A spokesman for the BSF based in Jammu blamed the Pakistani forces for the two clashes.

He said an Indian soldier on patrol in the Suchetgarh sector died in the shelling by Pakistani troops on Saturday night.

“Pakistani soldiers opened unprovoked fire on our post,” he said. “We responded to their fire effectively.”