This village, hemmed in by huge cliffs, is still counting the dead and damages after Pakistani troops shelled it, killing three civilians and injuring four, in a six-hour duel with Indian troops on Saturday night.At 8.30 pm on Saturday in the village just eight km from the LoC, a shell hit a state-owned bus in the market. Two Srinagar-based drivers and a small-time hotelier, who had halted for the night, were killed instantly. ‘‘The bus was in neutral when the shell fell on it. Then it started rolling, causing a huge fire that destroyed 18 shops and a house. Four civilians were injured who were moved to Srinagar for treatment,’’ says Gurez DSP Khalid Madni.‘‘We are hit by shells on a routine basis. But still we don’t have underground bunkers like other border areas have. There’s no safety for us here.’’ says Hayat Ahmad. Several feet away amid the debris, Zahoor Ahmad Kaloo, the owner of the building that housed shops, looks at the scene. ‘‘Let the war break out that alone would end our miseries.’’Beyond the dust-choked road in Achoora village, the eight-member Lone family had gathered on the first floor of their two-storey house for dinner that night. Midway, a distant boom was heard. Fearing the worst, 65-year-old Nasrullah Lone turned off the lights. The shell hit the top storey, sparking off a fire. ‘‘There’s nothing left now,’’ cries Lone.His family got away but could not salvage anything. ‘‘In this backward area, I had managed to educate my children and build a house, but we don’t have a cover over our heads,’’ he says. For Col Hitesh Kohli of the Sikh regiment posted in the border town, cross-border shelling is not new. ‘‘Whenever the enemy has to push in terrorists, they adopt this tactic. They shelled this area for six hours, this village was targeted for an hour. Maybe there’s an army post nearby,’’ he says.
