Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday urged the government to declare areas along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir that were affected by Pakistani shelling as “war-impacted zones”, PTI reported.

“I request that all these areas be declared as war-impacted zones, so that the work on their rehabilitation is taken up on war footing,” the former chief minister told reporters.

Mufti also demanded that those who died in areas along the Line of Control because of Pakistani shelling be given the status of martyrs.

“This will give them respect as they were innocent, and their families will also get some benefits,” she said, adding that the government should provide jobs to the kin of the deceased.

Mufti also demanded that the families whose homes were damaged in the shelling be given Rs 50 lakh each to help them reconstruct the houses.

On May 10, India and Pakistan reached an “understanding” to halt firing following a four-day conflict.

Tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad had escalated on May 7 when the Indian military carried out strikes – codenamed Operation Sindoor – on what it claimed were terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The strikes were in response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which killed 26 persons on April 22.

The Pakistan Army retaliated to Indian strikes by repeatedly shelling Indian villages along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. At least 22 Indian civilians and seven defence personnel were killed.

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