The residents of the border towns of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir should return to their homes, as New Delhi and Islamabad have reached mutual understanding.
Chief Minister of the territory Omar Abdullah said on Monday.
“They the residents of the border towns should now try to return to their homes.
“ Eighty to 90 per cent of Poonch town is vacant.
They had left their homes when shelling was taking place.
“Now that the shelling has stopped, they can return to their homes,’’ Abdullah was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency.
He said that the area of Poonch had been the worst hit by shelling.
Abdullah specified that during the escalation of the conflict between India and Pakistan 13 civilians were killed.
On Sunday, the authorities of Jammu and Kashmir asked the residents of the border villages, earlier evacuated to safe places due to Pakistan’s attacks.
They were urged not to rush to return to their homes until the process of mine clearing is finished.
Over 125,000 people were evacuated from the districts of Baramulla, Bandipore and Kupwara due to high risk of shelling.
Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated since a suicide bombing near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22.
The attack killed 25 Indians and one Nepalese.
India said it had evidence that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was behind the attack.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif rejected India’s accusations.
On May 7, India launched missile strikes on Pakistan, codenamed Operation Sindoor.
The Indian Defence Ministry said that the operation was in response to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam and targeted only the infrastructure of militant groups.
Pakistani authorities said that India had attacked five settlements, resulting in at least 31 fatalities.
Military escalation and cross-border attacks followed.
On Saturday, India and Pakistan announced that a ceasefire was agreed, effective from 5:00 p.m. local time (11:30 GMT) that day. (RIA/NAN)
