NEELUM VALLEY, Pakistan (AP) — Joy about an India-Pakistan ceasefire was short-lived in Kashmir. Tens of thousands fled the Indian-controlled part of the…
Joy about an India-Pakistan ceasefire was short-lived in Kashmir.
Tens of thousands fled the Indian-controlled part of the disputed region last week amid heavy shelling and drone attacks by Pakistan. Yet despite a ceasefire announced Saturday, only a handful of families returned to their homes Sunday.
“We will go back only after complete calm prevails,” said Basharat Ahmed, who lives in Poonch district. “It doesn’t take much time for the two countries to start fighting on the border.”
The ceasefire was intended to halt the hostilities between the nuclear-armed neighbors and defuse the worst military confrontation between them for decades. But just hours later, each side accused the other of violating the deal.
Indian officials said Pakistani shelling since Wednesday had killed at least 23 people and injured scores more. The shelling also damaged or destroyed hundreds of residential buildings.
A man and his family in Indian-controlled Kashmir had taken shelter in a government-run college in the town of Baramulla. When they left early Sunday, soldiers at a checkpoint stopped them, without giving a reason, before they could reach home in the Uri area of Poonch.
“Our joy around the ceasefire just vanished,” said Bashir Ahmed. He and his family had to return to the shelter at the college.
