Poonch (Jammu and Kashmir): A fire broke out along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district triggering explosions in several landmines on Friday night, official sources said. The fire broke out this evening in the Balnoi and Krishnagati sectors of the district, prompting the army, locals and forest officials to launch an operation to contain it, they said.
Sources said that for the past several hours, the police, army, fire and emergency departments have been busy extinguishing the fire. Attempts to infiltrate the forest under the cover of fire are also being monitored, they said. Notably, forest fires occur frequently due to the long dry season in the Kashmir Valley. The Wildlife Department believes that the fires are caused by people lighting fires while camping and not extinguishing them completely, or throwing cigarettes into the forest areas. (With PTI inputs)
