Indian interior minister asks people to have faith in army as tensions in Kashmir frontier escalates

Record ID: 1374231

  • Title: Indian interior minister asks people to have faith in army as tensions in Kashmir frontier escalates
  • Date: 23rd November 2016
  • Summary: NEW DELHI, INDIA (NOVEMBER 23, 2016) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI - NO ACCESS BBC) EXTERIOR OF INDIAN PARLIAMENT PARLIAMENT BUILDING INDIA'S INTERIOR MINISTER, RAJNATH SINGH, WALKING WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) INDIA'S INTERIOR MINISTER, RAJNATH SINGH, SAYING: "Trust Indian Army, that is what I have to say." SINGH LEAVING RAJOURI, JAMMU AND KASHMIR, INDIA (NOVEMBER 23, 2016) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI - NO ACCESS BBC) SMOKE EMANATING FROM A FOREST AREA, SHELLING HEARD VARIOUS OF SMOKE EMANATING FROM THE FOREST AREA, SHELLING HEARD WOMEN AND CHILDREN SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) LOCAL RESIDENT, MOHAMMAD MAHFIZ, SAYING: "When we were preparing to leave for school, firing started all of a sudden. Our family members stopped us from going to school. We hid inside our house as firing was very heavy. We are scared as we fear that shells can hit us at any moment." MORE OF SMOKE EMANATING FROM A FOREST AREA SMOKE EMANATING FROM A FOREST AREA, SHELLING HEARD (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) LOCAL RESIDENT, ALTAF AHMED, SAYING: "Pakistan is continuously firing. We have fled our villages and have taken shelter in jungles and hills. Heavy shelling is coming from their end. Indian forces are also retaliating." SMOKE EMANATING FROM A FOREST AREA, SHELLING HEARD
  • Embargoed: 7th December 2016 10:41
  • Keywords: Pakistan ceasefire violation Rajouri Parliament New Delhi India Jammu and Kashmir Rajnath Singh
  • Location: NEW DELHI/RAJOURI, JAMMU AND KASHMIR, INDIA
  • City: NEW DELHI/RAJOURI, JAMMU AND KASHMIR, INDIA
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA00159O0F2D
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL
    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS A WHITE FLASH TO SEPERATE SHOTS
    India's Interior Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday (November 23) asked the people to trust the army as Pakistani officials said Indian shelling across the frontier into Pakistani-controlled Kashmir hit a bus, killing at least nine people and wounding 11.
    Indian shelling across the frontier into Pakistani-controlled Kashmir hit a bus, killing at least nine people and wounding 11, Pakistani officials said, as tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours simmers.
    Indian troops attacked the bus "with small and big arms" in the town of Lawat, senior police official Jamil Mir told Reuters.
    Pakistan's military media wing, ISPR, said in a statement that seven people were killed and seven wounded.
    "Trust Indian Army, that is what I have to say," said Interior Minister Rajnath Singh, further raising the possibility of military escalation between the neighbours that could wreck a 2003 Kashmir ceasefire.
    On Tuesday (November 22), the Indian army promised retribution after three soldiers were killed on the border between India and Pakistan. The body of one soldier had been mutilated, the Indian army said.
    Lawat is 100 km (60 miles) northeast of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-held Kashmir, in the upper belt of Neelum Valley that straddles the de facto border splitting Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
    Indian officials did not comment on the deaths but a military spokesman said the Pakistani Army initiated "indiscriminate" firing on Wednesday morning on Indian Army posts in Bhimber Gali, Krishna Ghati and Nawshera sectors.
    Indian residents in Manjakote in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir said there was heavy shelling from across the border.
    Smoke from shells could be seen in the forested area of Manjakote, about 40 kilometres from the line of control dividing Kashmir.
    "When we were preparing to leave for school, firing started all of a sudden. Our family members stopped us from going to school. We hid inside our house as firing was very heavy. We are scared as we fear that shells can hit us at any moment," said a resident of Manjakote, Mohammad Mahfiz.
    "Pakistan is continuously firing. We have fled our villages and have taken shelter in jungles and hills. Heavy shelling is coming from their end. Indian forces are also retaliating," added another resident, Altaf Ahmed.
    Local media reported that three soldiers of India's Border Security Force were injured in the exchange of fire with Pakistani troops in Rajouri area of the border province.
    Relations between Pakistan and India have been strained for several months, while cross-frontier shelling has intensified leading to deaths of civilians and soldiers stationed along the disputed frontier.
    Kashmir lies at the heart of the tensions. The countries have fought two of their three wars over the region since partition and independence from Britain in 1947.
  • Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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