Two soldiers and a civilian were killed after a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Sunday morning, PTI reported quoting the police. Three civilians were also injured in the firing.

The incident took place in Tangdhar sector. Two houses were also damaged in the firing.

The Army said they had strongly retaliated to the unprovoked ceasefire violation. The Indian Army reportedly launched attacks on militant camps inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir opposite the Tangdhar sector, according to ANI. Cross-border firing along the international border in Kathua was also reported, according to NDTV.

Four terror launch pads in Neelam Valley – opposite the Tangdhar sector of Kupwara – have been destroyed in the strikes, News18 reported, citing unidentified officials. The launch pads reportedly belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Pakistan’s Armed Forces Spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor on Sunday alleged that India had initiated ceasefire violations in Jura, Shahkot and Nousehri sectors and targeted civilians. He also claimed that nine Indian security forces personnel were killed and many injured in retaliatory measures, adding that one Pakistani soldier and three civilians were killed. Two soldiers and five civilians were wounded, Ghafoor said.

Pakistani officials claimed six civilians were killed and nine, including minors, received injuries after “indiscriminate and ruthless” shelling from the Indian side, Dawn reported. This was the highest toll this year in a single day of shelling, they added.

Pakistan-occupied Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider said Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir had “gone berserk”. “This is the height of savagery,” he said. “The world must not stay silent over it.”

Muzaffarabad Deputy Commissioner Badar Munir said the shelling began before midnight, adding that it was the “heaviest so far”. He added that the Indian side used artillery and mortars that targeted civilians.

In August, an Indian soldier was killed and four were injured in an alleged ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. This came three days after an Indian soldier sustained fatal injuries as Pakistan resorted to mortar shelling and small arms firing on forward posts and villages in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district.

India has brought up the matter of targeting civilians during these violations along the Line of Control with Pakistan, PTI reported, citing unidentified Army officials.

There were 296 cases of ceasefire violations in July, 307 in August, and 292 in September. Sixty-one cases of “calibre escalation”, which implied use of mortar and heavy weaponry, was also reported in the last month.

The central government said last month that 2,050 cases of unprovoked firing were reported till September that claimed 21 lives. A government spokesperson said several requests had been made to Pakistan to abide by the 2003 ceasefire agreement.

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