Baramulla: The people of the Silikote village, situated along the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir, have the two immediate demands: “shift us to some safer place and talk to Pakistan to end this bloodshed.”
Shameema, a 26-year-old woman, recalls the horror scene of Monday morning when her house was destroyed by intense cross border shelling. She however survived.
Then, she says, after a brief lull, announcements were made from across the LoC by Pakistani Army through public address system asking the people to leave the village at the earliest.
“The exchange of fire takes place from both sides. Indian troops fired on Pakistani posts, and Pakistani troops in retaliation targeted different areas of the village like Chirunda, Hatlanga and Tilwari around early morning of Saturday and Friday,” Shameema told INS. “No causalities were reported.”
She said about one thousand people have left the village and its adjacent areas. “Some have taken shelter at the higher secondary school at main town Uri while others shifted to their relatives and friends.”
Bilal Ahmad, from Silikote, has taken his family out of the firing range area. “We are the worst victims of Indo-Pak firing since long,” he said.
“In December 2001, a shell fired from across the LoC hit my brother’s leg leaving him handicapped. He is unable to work. Two years later, I lost my relative. She was hit with a bullet while working in a field. We didn’t get any compensation from government. I can’t describe how we managed to save ourselves amid this shelling,” Bilal told INS.
Another person said many families are still stuck inside the battle village. “During mortar shelling, we ran away with our children but lost the contact of other families. We have shifted to a higher secondary school in Uri main town.”
“For the last four days, three civilians have been injured and at least half a dozen houses partially damaged in different areas of Uri belt,” he said.
The officials at the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Uri told INS that “the firing escalated from Thursday and on Saturday morning, we received a lot of calls from people seeking help for evacuation”.
“The situation forced the administration to press ambulances into service to ferry people from some border villages. The administration has also set up helpline numbers and emergency control rooms in the town to deal with the situation,” the officials said.
