'Never Seen Such Scenes Before': Poonch Residents Live Through Horror of Shelling by Pakistan

Srinagar/Poonch: When a massive explosion shook his home at around 1:45 am during the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday (May 6-7), Waqar Aajiz jumped out of his bed and hurried down the stairs to check on his parents.

“The first round (of firing) was scary, as if lightning was striking close by. There was complete darkness and it wasn’t clear what was going on,” said Aajiz, a teacher, who lives in Dingla village, some three kilometres from the main city of Poonch district.

The border district bore the brunt of Pakistan’s heavy artillery firing along the 740-km Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir in the aftermath of ‘Operation Sindoor’.

Residents of Poonch who spoke with The Wire said that they came under what appears to be a targeted attack by Pakistan on civilians in J&K that lasted for about 12 hours and in which dozens of residential, commercial and government buildings, including a mosque and a gurdwara, were hit.

According to the government, at least 16 civilians, including five children, and an army soldier were killed and more than three dozen civilians were wounded in heavy artillery shelling which targeted the main city of Poonch and the villages of Mankote, Dhaki, Sagra, Balnoi, Balakot, Shahpur, Kerni and Malti areas of the border district.

A building damaged in heavy firing and artillery shelling by Pakistan across the Line of Control in Dhaki area of Mendhar in Poonch district. Photo: Nazim Ali Manhas.

Some artillery shells also landed in Manjakote, Laam and Gambhir Brahmana areas in the adjoining Rajouri district of Jammu division and some villages in Baramulla and Kupwara districts along the LoC in Kashmir valley, prompting the officials to evacuate residents who have been temporarily shifted to schools and other government buildings.

'Felt like Gaza'

Speaking with The Wire, Aajiz said he left his home at the crack of dawn on Wednesday to check on his brother’s children who are enrolled at Madrassa Ziaul Aloom, one of the biggest Islamic seminaries of Jammu and Kashmir located in the main city of Poonch.

“It felt like Gaza,” Aajiz recalled, “Shells were flying over my head and terrified residents were fleeing for safety. I have never seen such scenes before. The shelling continued till around 11.30 am”.

When Aajiz reached the seminary, Qari Iqbal, his friend and a teacher there, was trying to calm down the terrified children as artillery shells started to pound the city and other adjoining villages.

“Iqbal told me that he was going to prepare a meal for the children and I left in a hurry along with our kids,” he said, adding that the debris left by the explosions had fallen on the road at many places.

Some 300 metres away from the seminary, Atinder Pal Singh, 25, a postgraduate who is preparing for competitive exams, said that the sounds of firing and explosions were restricted to border areas of Poonch district till 6 am on Wednesday morning.

According to residents, the main city of Poonch came under attack some 40 minutes after the dawn broke.

A girl who was injured in shelling being shifted to gurudwara in Mankote area of Mendhar in Poonch district. Photo: Nazim Ali Manhas.

'He came under the debris while I survived'

“I was coming down the stairs with my cousin who was ahead of me. It was around 8 am. Suddenly there was a blast, the house collapsed and he came under the debris while I survived. For me, the difference between life and death was only one second,” Singh told The Wire.

Singh’s cousin, Amarjit Singh, who retired from the army in 2021, was taken to a hospital where he succumbed. “He was hit by splinters in his lungs. His heart was injured too. He couldn’t survive,” he said.

For Sikhs, a jolt

Five members of the Sikh community, including a woman, were killed in the worst artillery shelling on Poonch since the 1971 war which has left a trail of death and destruction in the historic border district.

In the aftermath of the attacks, the district administration has turned some schools along the border areas, which were shut on Wednesday after India launched missile strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir, into shelter homes for some residents.

Recalling the events in the aftermath of the 2019 Balakot strikes, president of Poonch’s Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Narinder Singh, said that some artillery shells fired by Pakistan landed on the outskirts of Poonch.

“Residential areas were never targeted after the 1971 war. It has happened for the first time that shells have landed in residential areas,” he said.

A migration

An eerie calm prevailed in the district on Thursday following the killings a day earlier but residents said that a majority of families have moved to Rajouri and Jammu districts amid fears of escalation.

“We are observing the mourning period,” Singh said, “About 80% people have migrated out of Poonch but it is our home. Where will we go? We were born here and we will die here”.

As the sound of explosions continued to rattle Poonch, Aajiz was scrolling his phone on Wednesday afternoon at his home in Dingla village when a photo of Qari Iqbal, the teacher at the seminary, popped on his Facebook wall.

The caption said that Iqbal had been hit by one of the artillery shells which killed him, one of at least 12 civilians who perished in the artillery firing.

“He had gone out to buy groceries for the children’s meals when the explosion took place. He was hit by splinters in the neck and doctors couldn’t save him. Three children of the seminary were also injured in the blast. I will never forgive myself for leaving him alone,” Aajiz said.

Many Delhi-based TV channels falsely described Iqbal as a terrorist who was gunned down in Poonch. Residents of Poonch who knew Iqbal have protested against the false claims and a J&K police advisory on Thursday warned of “legal action” against the wrong labelling of a “respected religious figure.”

“Misreporting of such sensitive incidents not only causes unnecessary panic but also disrespects the dignity of the deceased and the sentiments of the bereaved family,” the advisory noted.

Poonch Police refutes fake news circulating about the death of Maulana Mohd Iqbal in cross-border shelling. He had no terror links. Misreporting causes panic and Legal action will follow against those spreading misinformation. @JmuKmrPolice @ZPHQJammu @digrprange

— DISTRICT POLICE POONCH (@Poonch_Police) May 8, 2025

With inputs from Nazim Ali Manhas in Poonch.