Surgical strikes: Evacuation, relocation of villagers in border areas continues
Samba: The evacuation of villagers in the Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba region continues, with thousands of people being relocated to a safer place in the event of possible retaliatory attacks from across the border.
The state government has set up make shift tent camps and arranged food facilities for the dislocated.
Apart from the Kashmir Valley, border areas like, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat are on alert with the Border Security Force (BSF) deploying its units along the International Border as a preemptive measure.
The BSF has restricted all civilian movement along borders with Pakistan and has also been asked by the Centre to provide manpower to the local administration for evacuation of people from border villages to safer locations.
In Punjab, the government has ordered the evacuation of the civil population from villages falling within 10 kilometers of the border of the state with Pakistan.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal put the entire government and political machinery in an emergency mode following the developments on the India-Pakistan border.
In Rajasthan, vigilance and patrolling in the border areas has been intensified and the force is alert.
Four districts of the state -- Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer and Sriganganagar share an over 1,000 kilometre long border with Pakistan. A high alert has been sounded in Gujarat also.
Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said that the high alert has been sounded across the entire state, especially in the border districts.
Gujarat shares land and sea boundaries with Pakistan. Three districts of the state- Kutch, Banaskantha and Patan share boundaries with Pakistan.
Earlier, the Indian Army conducted surgical strikes on ‘terror launch pads’ across the Line of Control on Wednesday night.
Speaking to media, Director General of Military Operations Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh said, the motive of the operation was to hit out at the terrorists who were planning to infiltrate into Indian territory.
Lt Gen Singh informed that significant casualties were caused during the operation.
