Residents of Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch say they saw Pakistani aircraft cross into Indian territory

The residents of Mendhar town of Poonch saw Pakistani aircraft fly across the sky during the day while those living in the other border areas, including Nowshera in Rajouri, witnessed heavy shelling by the Pakistani troops at night. Intermittent shelling along the border and the Pakistani aircraft in Poonch caused a panic among residents, several of whom moved to safer places. [caption id=“attachment_5466981” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir. Twitter/ @ANI[/caption] Residents said shelling continued for several hours in the border area of Nowshera in Rajouri during the night, forcing people to move to safer spots. In the afternoon, a number of residents of Mendhar town said they saw Pakistani aircraft in the sky. “It was around 12: 30 pm that I saw some Pakistani aircraft for quite some time. Later, they moved on,” said Mendhar resident Aijaz Kholi. The 27-year-old said while the aircraft dropped no bombs in Mendhar, relatives learnt of bombing in other areas through relatives. Some Mendhar residents woke up to the sound of the fighter jets at night and the aircraft flying overhead during the day. Others confirmed they saw Pakistani aircraft around 10:30 am, following which the police asked them to stay indoors. Locals said the police used the public address system to urge people not to panic. A resident of Nowshera said the area saw intense mortal shelling during the night. On Tuesday, Pakistani troops resorted to intense shelling and firing along the Line of Control (LoC) for several hours, using heavy artillery 120 mm mortar guns. The firing, which stopped for some time, resumed during the night in several areas, residents said. Earlier, army officials said there was heavy shelling along the LoC. They said the shelling was more intense than usual. Authorities also identified “safer” places which are not “usually in the targets of the Pakistani artillery” to which to move the public. The administration also identified several buildings even as locals constructed their own bunkers. Rajouri deputy commissioner Mohammad Aijaz said authorities decided to close down the schools within five kilometres from the LoC. “Keeping in view the safety of children, we decided to close the schools. Some 82 schools were closed from the Sunderbani area of Rajouri to Manjakote. We also identified the buildings in the safer areas which are not affected by the border shelling where we can shift residents,” he added.