Srinagar: “I was petrified thinking war has started”. Nisar Ahmad, like several other residents of villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch’s Mendhar sector, is living in fear since reports of the Indian Air Force carrying out pre-dawn strikes on Pakistani soil started trickling in.
“We were sleeping when loud noises of jet aircraft struck my ears,” said Ahmad, while another resident said he was “waiting for bombs to be dropped”. “I hugged my kids and everyone in my house was crying,” he added.
According to residents along the LOC, the thunderous sound of warplanes approaching could be heard for nearly 10 minutes.
Confused by this “strange development”, the inhabitants are of the opinion that the situation is set to worsen in the coming days. “There is often mortar shelling along LoC and we know it is ceasefire violation. We are used to that. But warplanes flying at night and crossing the LoC is certainly new for us,” Ahmad told News18.
The inhabitants are now waiting for government orders to evacuate in case the situation deteriorates. The administration, however, said no such orders had been issued yet. Deputy Commissioners of Poonch and Rajouri and the districts along LoC confirmed to News18 that no evacuation order has been issued for any village along the LoC.
Jets were reportedly also hovering over the skies in Srinagar and other surrounding areas in the morning.
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