India News | Rahul Gandhi Likely to Visit Poonch on May 24 to Meet Families Affected by Pakistani Shelling
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is likely to visit Poonch in the Jammu region on Saturday to meet the families of those killed and affected by the recent Pakistani shelling, party sources said.
New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is likely to visit Poonch in the Jammu region on Saturday to meet the families of those killed and affected by the recent Pakistani shelling, party sources said.
This will be the second visit of Gandhi, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, to Jammu and Kashmir after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 25 tourists and one local were killed.
The former Congress chief is set to visit Poonch and meet the next of kin of those killed and the families affected by Pakistan's cross-border shelling, the party sources said.
During his visit to Jammu and Kashmir last month following the attack, Gandhi had said the idea behind the terror strike was to divide the people of the country and it was imperative that India stood united to defeat terrorism once and for all.
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The Poonch sector was witness to heightened artillery shelling about two weeks ago following the rise in tensions with Pakistan after India carried out precise strikes on nine terror hubs in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) that included the headquarters of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed (Bahawalpur) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (Muridke) on May 7.
A wave of artillery shelling, and missiles and drone strikes by Pakistan in the Jammu region -- particularly in Poonch -- killed 27 people and injured more than 70 between May 8 and 10 after India launched Operation Sindoor to target terror infrastructure in the neighbouring country and PoK.
Thousands have fled from the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border areas to seek refuge in government-run relief camps. India carried out precision strikes under Operation Sindoor on terror infrastructure early on May 7 in response to the Pahalgam attack.
Following the Indian action, Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9 and 10. The Indian forces launched a fierce counter-attack on several Pakistani military installations.
India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the military confrontation after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)