line of control
[Representational Image]Reuters

A patrol party of the Indian Army was fired upon by terrorists during a mapping operation in the Tral area of Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.

Terrorists fired at the army convoy in Seer Jagir hamlet in Tral. Security forces have cordoned off the area and also launched a search operation to flush out the terrorists. 

Ceasefire Violation in Rajouri

Earlier in the day, two civilians were killed and three others injured after the Pakistan army resorted to heavy cross-border shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Rajouri district of the state. 

The Pakistan army fired mortar bombs and automatic weapons at Indian posts along the LoC in the Nowshera sector of the district at 7.15 am on Saturday. The Pakistan Army reportedly targeted the Jangarh, Bhawani, Laam belts of the sector. The Indian Army retaliated to the firing while rescue teams were also rushed to the spot. 

"Pakistani Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatic weapons, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars from 0715 hours along the Line of Control (LC) in Nowshera sector," PRO Ministry of Defence (MoD), Jammu, Lt Col Manish Mehta was quoted by the Press Trust of India (PTI) as saying. He added that the Indian Army retaliated "strongly and effectively" to the firing from across the border.

Schools ordered shut in Rajouri

The state authorities on Saturday ordered all schools and educational institutions in the border belts of the Rajouri district to remain shut in the wake of ceasefire violation and firing and shelling from the Pakistani side along the LoC.

Schools in the Nowshera sector of the district remained closed on May 11 and May 12 after Pakistani troops fired mortar shells in civilian areas along the LoC claiming the life of a woman and injuring two others.

Chief Education Officer Rajouri Chowdhary Altaf Hussain on Sunday ordered the closure of all schools and educational institutions within two kilometres from the LoC in the Rajouri district of the state. "We can't take risk and have closed schools in wake of shelling," Hussain told Greater Kashmir.

An evacuation plan to shift more than 1,500 citizens from several border hamlets to safer places was also put in place following the firing and shelling along the LoC.