BALKOTE: For 10 nights straight, gunfire between Indian and Pakistani soldiers has echoed from the mountains and deep valleys that form the heavily defended de facto border between the nuclear-armed rivals.
And, each night, it brings back afresh the horror for 50-year-old maize farmer Bashir Dar — the last time the bitter enemies battled across the Line of Control in contested Kashmir, his wife was killed.
“The mortar shell landed right next to my wife — she died instantly,” said Dar, describing fighting in 2020 near his mountain village of Balkote, on the Indian side of the dividing line.
His home lies less than a mile from Pakistani-controlled territory.
“These days, that moment flashes in my head all the time,” the widower said, holding up a picture of his late wife.
“Every night, I sit huddled with my four children in one room — with an ear to the sounds of gunfire coming from the border.”
Relations between the neighbors have plummeted after India accused Pakistan of backing the worst attack on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir in years, in which a gang of gunmen shot dead 26 men, mostly Hindus.
Islamabad has rejected the accusations.
Indian police have issued wanted posters for three men — two Pakistanis and an Indian — accused of carrying out the April 22 attack at Pahalgam.
They say they are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a UN-designated terrorist organization.
India’s army said Sunday that its troops had exchanged gunfire with Pakistani soldiers overnight across the Line of Control in multiple sites, which it says has taken place every night since April 24.
The army said “unprovoked small arms fire” from Pakistan, to which Indian soldiers “responded promptly and proportionately.”
There was no immediate confirmation from Pakistan, but Islamabad — whose military on Saturday said it carried out a “training launch” of a missile weapons system — has accused India of a “ceasefire violation.”
Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, with both governing part of the disputed territory separately and claiming it in its entirety.
Rebel groups opposed to Indian rule have waged an insurgency since 1989. Tens of thousands have been killed.
Government employee Mansoor Ahmed, 38, took two days off to prepare his bunker he had built in the village, at a cost of some 200,000 rupees ($2,300).
“I cleaned up my bunker and stocked it up for the first time since 2021,” Ahmed said, referring to the year India and Pakistan agreed to a renewed border ceasefire.
Many of those without bunkers have already left for safer places like Baramulla, further from the dividing line.
“Six families in my neighborhood left their homes for safety during the last few days,” said truck driver Mohammad Ibrahim, who has stayed with his wife and children.
“They requested us to look after their homes and cattle.”
In the villages of Churunda and Tilawari, fearful residents said officials had visited, telling them to check the condition of a few government-constructed community bunkers.
“There are only six bunkers, and each bunker can accommodate a maximum of 15 people,” a young villager told AFP, declining to be named.
In Churunda village, there are some 120 families.
“No proper facilities exist in the bunkers, and when it rains, water enters inside. The bunkers have not been built properly,” said the man.
“If war happens, these bunkers will be useless.”
AFP reporters saw a community bunker in the village with thick concrete walls and a slab on top.
But the floor was covered in runny mud.
Residents are fearful, and watch news on their mobile phones constantly.
“We live in constant fear of becoming victims of the conflict,” said a young woman in Tilawari, who declined to be named.
“We want peace,” she said. “We want to send our children to school and live our lives without fear.”