The forest fire in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s Balakote and Mendhar areas of Poonch district raged for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, causing several landmines, planted by the Indian army, to explode in the region.The fire, which broke out in a forest along the Line of Control in the mountainous area of Poonch district, is spreading, officials said.
Several landmines in the Mendhar area ex-ploded following the forest fire, the officials said.
Locals are engaged in controlling the fire. It is worth mentioning here that Indian army has littered almost all side areas of the occupied terri-tory with landmines and other explosives, which often incur loss of civilian life in the territory.
Meanwhile, A massive fire broke out in forest area of Mandi in Poonch district while another major fire incident was reported in Dera Gali area of Thannamandi in Rajouri district.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the fire broke out early in the morning after which employees of Forest Department reached on the spot to control the fire but fire could not be controlled.
It is pertinent to mention here that forest is dry because of no rains and snowfall even in the winters following which fire is breaking out in many forests now a days.
“We may take the help of Army and Police if required”, an official said. — KMS
