Indian villages along Punjab border came under attack from Pak

Six rockets were fired from Pakistan into Indian territory shortly past Friday midnight. Two rockets fell inside the Border Security Force's Kangarh border outpost (BOP).

Luckily, the rockets did not explode. The BOP is barely half a kilometre from the Indo-Pakistan border. In retaliation, the BSF opened machine gun and mortar fire targeting Pakistan’s KS Wala BOP area, from which the rockets had come. The location of the rest of the rockets fired from the Pakistani side could not be ascertained because of the thick fog that has enveloped these areas.

This is the third rocket attack within six months from Pakistan targeting Indian villages. The earlier rockets were fired into Indian villages in July and September.

Himmat Singh, the BSF's inspector general (frontier), told TOI that six rockets were fired from Pakistan between 12.10am and12.30am. He said the BSF had retaliated strongly and opened machine gun and mortar fire. Following the rocket attacks, the BSF held a meeting with the Pak Rangers commandant, Sher Jhang, and lodged a strong protest, Singh said, adding that no damage or injury was reported.

He said the Pak Rangers had not mentioned any casualty due to firing from the Indian side. He apprehended the hand of Pakistani terrorist groups behind the attack. However, he did not rule out the possibility of the involvement of the Pak Rangers.

Meanwhile, there is panic in the border villages. Manjit Kaur, a resident of Modhae village, said she had heard the blasts around midnight and came out of her house along with other family members. She said: “We thought Pakistan had attacked us as we heard three to four blasts in a short duration. Luckily, it wasn’t a war.” She said the Indian government must take measures to prevent such incidents and restore confidence.