Rajouri (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], May 8 (ANI): Residents in border villages in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri are returning to their homes on Thursday morning after they were forced to flee their homes in panic, seeking safety in the wake of the intense shelling by Pakistan on Wednesday.

The Pakistan Army has resorted to heavy artillery firing along the Line of Control in retaliation for India's Operation Sindoor, which targeted nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

According to the villagers who returned today, the shelling has caused significant damage to residential properties, with people fleeing the areas along with their whole families as well as livestock.

'We left our homes in fear, and so we fled in the night during the shelling. There were two buildings which got damaged. Two shells also fell on my house. So we fled from here. The whole village was deserted, and some people also took their livestock with them,' said Sailesh Kumar, a resident of a border village in Rajouri.

Neeraj Sharma, another villager, recounted the harrowing experience, stating, 'There has been heavy shelling, and the areas also got damaged here. It was a very bad situation. We fled to our relatives' houses, and now we are coming back.'

Shamlal, who returned to his village in the morning, described the extent of the destruction.

'We fled last night and now we are coming back. The damage was heavy across the village. Firing is still less in the morning compared to last night,' he said.

Earlier, fifteen innocent civilians were killed and 43 injured in artillery firing by the Pakistan Army since Tuesday night, which has hit civilian areas in Poonch and Tangdhar, defence sources said on Wednesday.

After Operation Sindoor, the Pakistan Army continued its series of ceasefire violations by targeting civilian areas in the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. Officials said the shelling caused panic among villagers and damaged several houses. Shelling by Pakistan damaged civilian infrastructure, shattered window panes and cracked walls.

Meanwhile, the Indian Army have proportionately responded to the unprovoked small-arms and artillery guns firing by the Pakistani Army across the Line of Control (LoC) during the night of May 7 and May 8, as the Pakistan Army resorted to firing in areas opposite in Kupwara and Baramulla districts and Uri and Akhnoor sectors in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Indian Army is closely monitoring the ceasefire violations by Pakistan after the Indian forces conducted the precise strikes on nine terror infrastructure sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir under Operation Sindoor on Wednesday.

The strikes were aimed at avenging the Pahalgam attack victims and eliminating key Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leaders and camps involved in planning attacks on Indian soil. (ANI)