BSF trooper, two civilians killed in Pakistani shelling

 A Border Security Force (BSF) trooper and two civilians were killed and three others injured on Friday in indiscriminate firing and shelling by Pakistan Rangers on the international border in Jammu and Kashmir.

Police said BSF Head Constable Jagpal Singh, injured in Samba district, succumbed to his injuries.

Two civilians were killed and three others were injured in Pakistani shelling on civilian facilities in Arnia sub-sector of R.S. Pura in Jammu district.

The injured civilians were shifted to a hospital.

The Pakistan Rangers resorted to indiscriminate shelling and firing at 20 border outposts of the BSF along the international border in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts on Friday, a police official said.

"The shelling and firing started at 6.40 a.m. and continued intermittently for over four hours. Indian positions effectively and strongly retaliated the Pakistani fire," a police source said.

Authorities have ordered the closure of all schools in areas close to the international border that have been affected by Pakistan's violation of the 2003 ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan.

Panic has gripped the residents of border villages along the international border in the three districts, news reports say. - IANS