Tens of thousands of people living near India’s contested frontier with Pakistan were forced to flee as both countries launched deadly attacks and counter-attacks over four days, starting May 7.
“I am desperate to go to my village because each day I don’t open my shop I lose money,“ said Lal, a 50-year-old tailor.
“But the word on the street is that the war is not over,“ said Lal.
“People had come back thinking it was safe now,“ said 31-year-old Pardeep Kumar from the Kashmir village of Kotmaira, which came under artillery fire just hours after the ceasefire was announced.
‘We are being cautious’
“We are being cautious about places within one to two kilometres (0.6 to 1.2 miles) of the border,“ said a senior official in Jammu, who asked to remain anonymous as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
“We request the government to construct more bunkers because we don’t feel safe otherwise,“ said Akshay Kumar from the border town of Naushera.
“Areas that were never targeted in the past have seen heavy shelling this time,“ he said. “We cannot go back until there’s absolute certainty that we’ll be safe.”
India accused Pakistan of backing the “terrorists” it said were responsible for the Pahalgam attack -- a charge Islamabad denied -- and last week launched missiles at sites in Pakistan it said were hosting the militants.
“We really want to go back, but it seems it is not the right time yet,“ said Usha Kumari, who is staying in a classroom at a government school. “Pakistani drones are still out there.”
Nirta Kaur fled her home in the village of Mankote after a shell flattened three of its four rooms.
“Who knows what is left of it now?” said the 52-year-old from her dormitory room in a Sikh temple in Jammu. “But I will have to, one day or another.”
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( 'We can't go back': India's border residents fear returning home )
Also on site :