NEW DELHI, May 18: A forest fire triggered several landmine explosions along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district, officials said on Wednesday.
The fire that started in a forest across the LoC on Monday spread to the Indian side in the Mendhar sector, they said. The fire triggered the explosion of nearly half a dozen landmines that were part of the anti-infiltration obstacle system, officials said.
“The forest fire has been raging for the past three days. We along with the Army are dousing the fire. “The fire was brought under control without any human loss but this morning it started in Daramshal block and spread fast due to powerful winds,” a forest official said.
He added that the blaze was later brought under control with the help of the Army as it reached near the border hamlet, he said. In Rajouri district, another huge fire broke out in the Sunderbandi area near the border which spread to other forest areas, including Ghambhir, Nikka, Panjgraye, Brahamana, Moghala, officials said. The fire also erupted in Kalakote’s Kalar, Ranthal and Chingi forests.
“The fire came from across the border and also spread to LOC areas of Upper Kangdi and Dok Banyad”, the official said. Another massive fire broke out in the agriculture fields along International Border (IB) in Jammu district. The fire spread to several kilometres of area close to Beli Azmat borer out post (BoP) of the BSF.
(Manas Dasgupta)
