Jammu, Mar 10 (IANS): Heavy shelling and firing started on Saturday between the Indian and Pakistani armies on the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district.

The Pakistani army resorted to unprovoked and indiscriminate targeting of defence and civilian facilities in Mankote area using small arms, automatics and mortars, the Defence Ministry sources said.

The shelling and firing started around 7.45 a.m. "Our troops are retaliating appropriately and effectively. Firing exchanges were going on when the last reports came in," the sources added.

Life for hundreds of border villagers in Poonch and Rajouri districts in Jammu and Kashmir has been on a tailspin ever since the beginning of 2018.

Heavy shelling from across the border has brought their lives to a virtual halt.

Fear of shells raining from across the LoC has now become an unending nightmare for these people.

So far, the state government has only been responding with knee-jerk reactions to these cross border shelling.

Schools are closed, people are advised not to move out of their homes during shelling and whenever the shelling stops, schools are again re-opened.

This practice has become a rule rather than an exception for the people living in these border villages.