New Delhi/JammuA Border Security Force (BSF) trooper was injured as firing across the India-Pakistan border at Ranbir Singh Pura near Jammu continued until 3am on Friday, putting the spotlight on a sector that has largely been quiet, especially after the Indian and Pakistan armies agreed to a ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in February 2021, officials aware of the matter said.

The firing started around 8pm on Thursday. After the overnight exchange of fire between the Pakistan Rangers and BSF, an uneasy calm returned to the Arnia and RS Pura sectors.

A BSF spokesperson in Delhi said that Pakistan Rangers also fired mortars, which was countered “befittingly with appropriate response”. The use of mortars is escalatory. The spokesperson added that intermittent firing continued until 3am and left the trooper injured. “He was provided medical aid,” he said.

Villages along the border were also put on alert following Pakistan’s violation of the ceasefire agreement. Residents said mortar shells fired from Pakistan landed at some houses near the border, and security forces on Thursday asked people to switch off lights and remain alert to avoid civilian casualties.

According to BSF spokespersons,the Pakistan Rangers targeted border outposts and civilian outposts around 9.15pm on Thursday. “At 10.40pm, Pakistan Rangers used heavy machine gun fire. At 1.08am, they fired another heavy round, targeting the outposts,” said a spokesperson.

BSF troops were on high alert and the headquarters in Delhi was being briefed every hour through the day. A commandant-level flag meeting is likely to be held at the border during the weekend if there is no further violation of the ceasefire from Pakistan side. “During the day there was no incident of firing. A flag-level meeting of the commandants will be held within a day or two,” said a BSF officer who asked not to be named.

Some villagers and migrant labourers, who fled their homes and shanties on Thursday night following Pakistan’s intense firing and shelling on BSF posts and forward villages, returned to their homes on Friday, a senior police official said. Police teams also visited the villages that were hit and took stock of the damage.

“BSF remains vigilant and continues to monitor the developments closely while assessing the situation and remains alert to respond as necessary to ensure the safety and security of the border and its residents,” the force wrote on X.

Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Jammu’s Arnia village, said that the Pakistan Rangers first opened machine gun fire on Vikram Post, and then targeted Chinaj Post. The officials said at least one civilian was brought to the Government Medical College in Jammu with minor injuries.

Intelligence officials said on Thursday evening that two BSF men and a woman were injured in the firing. The injured were identified as Basavraj SR and Sher Singh. The injured woman was identified as Rajni Bala, 38, a resident of Ward 5, Arnia.

Recounting the horror that unfolded on Thursday night, sarpanch of Sai Khurd, Vijay Choudhary said, “Pakistan suddenly opened heavy fire on Thursday night after a hiatus of over two and a half years. We urge the government to construct bunkers for us on war footing.”

“Whenever elections and festivals approach, Pakistan starts firing at us. They can’t be trusted. We are apprehensive of another round of firing by Pakistan on Friday evening. If they start again then we would be compelled to migrate to safer areas,” he added.

On October 17, two troopers were injured when Pakistani Rangers fired at an Indian post in Arnia.

BSF, which is now on a high alert all along the 198km long IB, lodged a protest with the Pakistan Rangers about the ceasefire violation at a commandant-level flag border meeting on October 19. India’s second-largest paramilitary force guards the country’s borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh across its western, eastern, and northern frontiers.

Video and audio clips of a Pakistani officer, accessed by HT, showed the impact of India’s retaliatory fire in forward areas of Pakistan. The Pakistan officer was being clearly heard telling his colleague to take all precautionary measures in the wake of firing and mortar shelling by BSF.

Rohit Choudhary, a National Conference (NC) activist, requested the government to deploy bulletproof ambulances in forward villages of Arnia and RS Pura sectors so that they could be used to evacuate injured to the hospitals.

Both sides have largely stuck to the 2021 ceasefire, though there have been a few incidents of the Pakistan Army targeting Indian Army posts across the LoC in Kashmir.

In September, the army foiled an infiltration attempt on LoC in Hatlanga village in the Uri sector and shot dead three terrorists who were trying to cross over from the other side while Pakistani soldiers deployed there provided cover fire. Pakistani forces have routinely aided infiltrators, but the Uri incident was the first in months.

On June 23, security forces foiled a major infiltration bid by killing four terrorists along LoC in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, as week after the army and police foiled another major infiltration bid at Jumgund Keran on June 16, killing five unidentified foreign terrorists.

The restoration of the ceasefire in 2021 led to a drop in infiltration by terrorists at least until a few months ago. Indian and Pakistani militaries announced on February 25 that year that they had begun observing a ceasefire along LoC from the midnight of February 24. The two countries had also agreed to a ceasefire in November 2003, but it was frequently violated. Pakistan resorted to the highest ever ceasefire violations since 2016 during the year preceding the joint announcement of the ceasefire in 2021. According to government data accessed by HT, Pakistan resorted to 4,645 violations in 2020, and this number swelled to over 5,100 if violations along IB were also counted.