BJP: About 18 civilians killed, nearly 2,000 structures damaged in Pak shelling in J&K

Jammu: As many as 18 civilians lost their lives and nearly 2,000 structures, including residential houses and commercial buildings, were damaged in the indiscriminate shelling by Pakistan Army in four days from May 7 along the borders in Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP said on Monday.

Leader of Opposition in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, Sunil Sharma, undertook a 10-day tour of the border areas along the Line of Control and International Border along with four MLAs -- former ministers Sham Lal Sharma and Devinder Kumar Manyal, Narinder Singh and R S Pathania -- on directions of the party’s central leadership and submitted a detailed report along with recommendations for rehabilitation of the affected families.

“Pakistan is famous for its cowardly acts and targeted our civilian areas after our armed forces carried out Operation Sindoor to destroy terror infrastructure on May 7 across the border in retaliation to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack,” Sharma told reporters at the party headquarters here.

“Fourteen of our civilians lost their lives in Poonch, two in Rajouri and one each in Uri (Baramulla district) and Jammu in the indiscriminate Pakistani shelling,” he added, flanked by other members of his team.

Sharma said that in addition, 1,500 to 2,000 structures – mostly residential houses – were damaged along with heavy loss to livestock and the agriculture yield in the border areas.

“Operation Sindoor was the reaction of our forces to the act of terror that left 26 persons, mostly tourists, dead. The precise and targeted action brought Pakistan on its knees, but the terror supporting country resorted to indiscriminate attacks on the residential areas on this side of the border,” he added, reiterating the government’s resolve that Operation Sindoor has only been suspended and any act of terror in future would be considered as an act of war.