Villages in Punjab which are 10 kms from the International Border with Pakistan are being evacuated after India announced that it carried out surgical strikes along the LoC on Wednesday night.
Schools within the 10-km range of the border will also remain closed till further orders are issued.
Punjab: Villages in Gurdaspur being evacuated after #SurgicalStrike conducted by Indian Army. pic.twitter.com/ysWsT5Olfl
— ANI (@ANI_news) September 29, 2016
According to a Hindustan Times report village sarpanches have been asked to finish the evacuation process with immediate effect.
Meanwhile, the Border Security Force (BSF) also cancelled the ‘Retreat’ ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border joint check-post (JCP) at Attari, 30 kms from Amritsar.
The BSF and district authorities have asked visitors and tourists not to move towards Attari for the ceremony on Thursday.
The Retreat ceremony is carried out by border guards of India and Pakistan, the BSF and Pakistan Rangers, at the Attari-Wagah JCP at sunset every evening. The 30-minute ceremony is watched by hundreds from both countries daily.
While India asserted that it had conducted surgical strikes on terror launch pads along the LoC, Pakistan has denied the claim calling it an ‘unprovoked aggression’. However, Pakistan has confirmed that two of its soldiers were killed and nine other were injured in the firing.
India said the surgical strikes were in response to the September 18 Uri attacks that led to the killing of 18 Indian soldiers.
With inputs from agencies.
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