In Photos: Villagers Begin Leaving Amidst Heavy Firing on Poonch Border

Poonch: Following heavy firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu's Poonch district for at least three consecutive nights, which has resulted in the deaths of residents and destruction of homes and buildings, villagers living along the border have begun migrating to safer locations.

Many have a simple appeal: that India and Pakistan sit down and discuss matters so that people who are most affected – the poor – don’t have to witness this death, pain and suffering.

Local police and civil administration authorities moving villagers to relief camps away from the line of fire on May 9 in Poonch, Jammu. Photo: Nazim Ali Manhas

Local police and civil administration authorities moving villagers to relief camps away from the line of fire on May 9 in Poonch, Jammu. Photo: Nazim Ali Manhas

Villagers leave their home and are on the move to safer locations on May 9. Photo: Nazim Ali Manhas

While people started leaving their homes from more than ten villages along the LoC in Poonch of their own accord on May 9 and 10, the local police and civil administration are also currently helping relocate many others to relief camps at schools away from the line of fire, The Wire’s reporter in Poonch was able to confirm. Many are moving with whatever little of their belongings they can collect while others are moving with their livestock.

Villagers migrate with their livestock from their homes near the Line Of Control in Poonch district, Jammu, on May 10. Photo: Nazim Ali Manhas

Heavy firing has been ongoing for at least three nights in a row along the Poonch border, residents of several villages in these areas told The Wire. Sixty-year-old Rashida Bi, wife of Munshi Khanm], lost her life on the morning of May 10 after a mortar shell hit her home.

On Wednesday alone, 15 civilians in Poonch district lost their lives in the cross-border shelling, according to Deccan Herald. The Hindustan Times quoted the Union external affairs ministry on May 9 as saying that 44 people had sustained injuries in Poonch alone due to firing by Pakistan. Per the Indian Express on May 10, at least 16 civilians including five children have died so far in the district in the artillery fire.

Shops, homes and roads affected by artillery fire in villages along the India-Pakistan border in Poonch district, Jammu. Photo: Nazim Ali Manhas

“We faced heavy firing from Pakistan last night,” Mohammed Shabir, a resident of Behra village in Mendhar told The Wire’s reporter in Poonch on May 10. “We are poor people who live here, we’ve lost everything. We request the government to defend us, where will we poor people go? We will die here. We should not have to face such shelling.”

Several houses and shops in villages along the LoC in Poonch district have also been destroyed in the process. Remains of mortal shells in the rubble of homes is a common sight now.

“Last night, the shelling was extremely intense. If we hadn’t moved away from here last night, you would have seen 40 dead bodies here today,” another resident of Behra village told The Wire. “There are 40 bullets lying here. Peoples’ houses have been destroyed. Our only option is to leave.”

A resident holds up the remnant of a mortar shell through the hole that it made through his house in Poonch, Jammu. Photo: Nazim Ali Manhas

Shops, homes and roads affected by artillery fire in villages along the India-Pakistan border in Poonch district, Jammu. Photo: Nazim Ali Manhas

The firing from the Pakistan side was particularly heavy after 4 am on May 10, Mohammed Iqbal, a resident of Dera Kund village in Poonch told The Wire. There are shell casings of at least 26 bullets on his land and in his house alone, Iqbal said. 

“Whatever happens, all the losses are being borne by the poor,” he added. “Hence I fervently appeal to Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, the Jammu and Kashmir administration…I request that both countries sit down and discuss matters. We have already lost so much. Please do not let us poor people suffer these life-threatening consequences.”

With inputs from Aathira Perinchery.

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