A grave loss for Jammu & Kashmir. Raj Kumar Thapa, the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Rajouri in Pak firing.
A grave loss for Jammu & Kashmir. Raj Kumar Thapa, the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Rajouri, was killed after Pakistani shelling struck his residence amid escalating cross-border hostilities.
Two of his staff members remain critically injured. Continuous artillery and mortar fire from Pakistan has ravaged sectors of Rajouri, Akhnoor, and Kupwara, damaging homes and displacing civilians.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed deep sorrow, calling Thapa a dedicated officer who was actively working in the region till a day before his tragic death. Relief camps have been set up across affected districts as tensions continue to rise along the border.
Five persons, including a senior J-K government official and a two-year-old girl, were killed as intense mortar shelling and drone strikes by Pakistan hit Jammu region early Saturday, officials said.Residents of Jammu city and other major towns of the division woke up to air raid sirens and deafening sounds of explosions around 5 am, while the border residents spent a sleepless night in the wake of intense shelling from across the border.
According to defence officials, Pakistan’s blatant escalation with drone strikes and other munitions continued along the western borders on Saturday.“Pakistan’s blatant attempt to violate India’s sovereignty and endanger civilians is unacceptable. Indian Army will thwart all enemy designs,” they said.Raj Kumar Thapa, Additional District Development Commissioner, Rajouri, and his two staff members were seriously injured when an artillery shell hit his official residence in Rajouri town, the officials said.
They were rushed to the Government Medical College, where Thapa succumbed to his injuries, they said. Condoling Thapa’s death, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in a post on X, “Devastating news from Rajouri. We have lost a dedicated officer of the J-K Administration Services. Just yesterday he was accompanying the Deputy CM around the district and attended the online meeting I chaired.
“Today the residence of the officer was hit by Pak shelling as they targeted Rajouri town, killing our Additional District Development Commissioner Sh Raj Kumar Thappa. I’ve no words to express my shock & sadness at this terrible loss of life. May his soul rest in peace.”Two more persons – two-year-old Aisha Noor and Mohd Shohib (35) – were killed, and three others were injured in Pakistani shelling near an industrial area in Rajouri town, the officials said.
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According to the officials, a 55-year-old woman named Rashida Bi lost her life when a mortar shell hit her house at Kanghra-Galhutta village in Mendhar sector of Poonch district. [ Inputs : PTI ]
India’s official press conference
Pakistan’s military is moving its troops in forward areas, India said on Saturday as the two countries continued to attack each other’s military facilities, dangerously escalating the ongoing conflict.
“The Pakistan military is observed to be moving their troops to border areas,” Colonel Sofiya Qureshi said at a press briefing along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
Pakistan, she said, had launched a high-speed missile in Punjab and attacked medical facilities in Srinagar, Avantipura and Udhampur.
“A befitting reply has been given to Pakistani actions,” Qureshi said.
“Pakistan military used high-speed missiles at 1.40 am to target air base in Punjab,” she disclosed.
Pakistan used drones, long-range weapons, loitering munitions, jets to attack India’s military sites along the Western front, Qureshi said.
In response to Pakistani actions, India has responded in a measured way, said Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
“It is the Pakistani act that constituted provocation and escalation,” he said.
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He dismissed as ludicrous claims by Pakistan of missiles being fired at religious sites.
India also said that Pakistan’s claims of critical infrastructure damage were “completely false”.
The Indian military showed time-stamped pictures to deny Pakistan’s claims about air force stations and base destruction in India.
“Indian armed forces remain in high state of operational readiness… all hostile actions have been effectively countered,” Wing Commander Vyomika Singh told reporters.
India, she said, had targeted Pakistani military assets in Rahim Yar Khan.
“Pakistan had attempted a malicious misinformation campaign. Its claims of destroying our S-400 system and airfields at Surat were false,” Singh said.
Indian armed forces carried out precision strikes only at identified military targets in response to Pakistan’s actions, she said.
Singh said Indian armed forces are committed to non-escalation, provided Pakistan side reciprocates.
Pakistan’s claim that its hypersonic missiles fired from JF-17 fighter jets destroyed India’s S-400 air defence system in Adampur is “false”, an Indian military official said on Saturday.
Pakistan’s state-run PTV earlier reported that the Pakistan Air Force’s hypersonic missiles destroyed the S-400 system in Adampur.
China’s Xinhua news agency also said Pakistan’s JF-17 Thunder jet destroyed India’s S-400 air defence system in India’s Punjab, according to Chinese news outlet Global Times.
Pak targets 26 Indian sites; hits Army hospitals, causes damage at 4 airbases: Col Sofiya Qureshi(MEA briefing, India Pakistan conflict, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, Army hospitals hit, cross-border attack). [Inputs PTI]
These reports are false, the spokesperson of the Indian Air Force said.