Four young men were killed on Monday in the Hajira landmine explosion near the Line of Control in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The victims had gone to repair a water pipeline at a spring near Mahandlah Madarpur village in Poonch district when the device detonated.
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Directorate General of Public Relations confirmed the deaths. All four died on the spot. Their bodies were shifted to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Hajira. Commissioner Poonch Sardar Waheed also confirmed the incident and said officials were still ascertaining the nature of the explosion.
What happened in the Hajira landmine explosion
The four victims were identified as Sardar Faizan Saghir, Sardar Ishtiaq, Sardar Asim Rafique and Sardar Waqas Sharif. They were aged between 20 and 30. According to initial reports, the group had gone to the spring in their daily routine to repair the pipeline that carries drinking water to their homes.
Local sources cited by Kashmiri media said the device was an anti-personnel landmine laid by Indian forces that had drifted from the Indian side of the LoC into Azad Kashmir. The Kashmir Times reported that the four were cousins from a single extended family belonging to the Doli community of Madarpur village. One of the victims, Faizan Sagheer, was identified by local sources as an activist of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front. Senior journalist Sardar Zahid Tabassum, editor-in-chief of the daily Kashmir Express, said the four were sons of his cousins. The same report said residents blamed Indian forces for planting devices near the spring, though it could not independently establish the device’s origin.
A former Azad Kashmir prime minister expressed grief over the loss of lives, Dawn reported.
Conflicting accounts of the deaths
Indian media carried a sharply different account. Citing security officials, outlets including the Daily Jagran claimed the four were Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives, among them a commander, who were trying to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district through the Krishna Ghati sector when they triggered a mine.
Relatives and local sources in Hajira tehsil rejected that version. They maintained the four were civilians who had gone to repair the water pipeline, and disputed the claim that they were attempting to cross the LoC. Neither account has been independently verified. Pakistani officials have previously rejected Indian claims about cross-border incidents, as DG ISPR did when it debunked an Indian claim about a retired SSG soldier.
Why drifting mines endanger LoC villages
The danger of mines shifting across the LoC is well documented. Even Indian reporting on the incident notes that heavy rainfall has washed away topsoil along the border, causing older or deeply buried anti-personnel mines to surface or shift from their positions. Days before Monday’s deaths, the Indian Army’s Bomb Disposal Squad located and defused five weathered landmines exposed near the border fence in the neighbouring Mendhar sector.
The AJK Directorate General of Public Relations warned that residents and livestock in areas near the LoC remain at risk because of the terrain, the unclear border demarcation and mines drifting from the Indian side.
A deadly fortnight for border-area civilians
The Hajira deaths follow another deadly incident near the border earlier this month. Funeral prayers were held in Kasur for two Pakistani civilians killed in firing by Indian Border Security Force personnel. Pakistan summoned the Indian Charge d’Affaires to lodge a strong protest, calling the use of lethal force against unarmed civilians unjustified and grossly disproportionate.
The Foreign Office has repeatedly raised civilian casualties along the border and in Kashmir. Pakistan recently urged the United Nations to deliver self-determination for Kashmir and Palestine. Monday’s deaths are likely to feature in the next round of diplomatic exchanges between the two countries.
Who were the four victims of the Hajira landmine explosion?
The victims were Sardar Faizan Saghir, Sardar Ishtiaq, Sardar Asim Rafique and Sardar Waqas Sharif, all aged between 20 and 30. Local sources described them as cousins from the Doli community of Madarpur village in Hajira tehsil.
What caused the explosion near the LoC?
Local sources and AJK officials say an anti-personnel landmine that drifted from the Indian side of the Line of Control exploded while the four were repairing a water pipeline at a spring. The exact nature of the device is still being ascertained.
Why do landmines drift across the Line of Control?
Heavy rainfall washes away topsoil along the border, loosening older or deeply buried mines so they surface or shift from their original positions. AJK officials also point to unclear border demarcation in the rugged terrain near the LoC.
What has been the official response?
The AJK Directorate General of Public Relations and Commissioner Poonch confirmed the incident, and a former AJK prime minister expressed grief. Indian media carried a conflicting account, which local sources in Hajira rejected.
