More than 80,000 residents of about 140 villages of Jammu along the International Border (IB) have deserted their homes and taken shelter at safe places as the death toll due to heavy mortar shelling by Pakistan Rangers on Wednesday reached 12 with today’s killing of five civilians, including a woman and a minor boy.

At least 43 people have been injured during shelling since last night.

A warlike situation has been created with Pakistani troops indiscriminately pounding the border villages. Several residential houses have been damaged and a large number of cattle perished.

Today’s deaths have been reported from Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts as the Pakistani troops have virtually created warlike situation along the 130 km long IB stretching from Kathua bordering Punjab to Akhnoor in Jammu district.

J-K DGP SP Vaid said that the Pakistan Rangers were heavily targeting these villages since last night when 30 civilians were injured.

Among those killed were a 10-year-old boy Krishan Lal and 45-year-old Shamo Devi of the Manglad village in the Samba district. Both were killed in their homes. Six others were injured as Pakistani troops rained mortars in the village at about 8.30 am, said Rajinder Singh Tara, deputy commissioner of Samba.

Bhajan Ram and Raghubir Singh were killed in the Samkha and Satowali villages of Ranbirsinghpura sector of Jammu district, said Arun Manhas, Jammu’s additional district magistrate. Raghubir Singh was rushed to the medical college with serious splinter injuries but he succumbed in the hospital. Bhajan Ram was killed when a mortar landed near him as he returned to the village in the morning to feed his cattle that were left behind. His other family members had migrated to a safe place with him two days ago.

Today was the ninth day of continuous shelling by Pakistan since 15 May when the BSF had foiled an infiltration bid by terrorists trough the IB. Twelve persons, including two BSF personnel, have since lost their life due to shelling. Pakistani snipers did not even spare an eight-month child, Nitin, for whom a campaign blaming Pakistan of targeting small children has been launched on the social media.

Pakistan Rangers had on Sunday waved white flags on the IB and sought ceasefire. It is now being believed as a time gaining exercise by Pakistan to reinforce its pickets on the IB.

The worst hit Arnia, which is a trading hub, has turned into a ghost town as almost all households were locked and people have fled from there. The streets of the town wore a deserted look as Pakistani mortars have been landing there for the past three days.

Personnel of the J-K Police were engaged in rescuing women, children and elderly people in bulletproof vehicles from the affected villages.

A philanthropist of the border area, Rohit Chaudhary, said that Pakistani troops were today targeting deep into the villages about 5 kms from the IB.

A BSF officer said that shelling by Pakistan has engulfed the entire length of the IB.

More than 200 schools within the radius of 5 kms of the IB have been shut by the authorities as a precautionary measure.