Jammu, 24 May

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday reached Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Saturday to meet the victims of the cross-border shelling by Pakistani troops earlier this month.

This is the second visit by the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha to the Union territory since the dastardly 22 April Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives, mostly tourists.

Gandhi visited Srinagar on 25 April to meet those injured in the terror attack. He had also met the Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant governor, the chief minister and several stakeholders then.

On Saturday morning, Gandhi reached Jammu airport and left for Poonch in a helicopter to visit the areas affected by the cross-border shelling and meet the bereaved families, a Congress leader said.

The Poonch sector was witness to heightened artillery and mortar shelling after India carried out precise strikes under Operation Sindoor on nine terror hubs in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on May 7 in response to the dastardly Pahalgam massacre.

A wave of artillery shelling, missiles and drone strikes by Pakistan killed 28 people, 13 in Poonch district alone, and injured more than 70 between \7 and 10 May across Jammu and Kashmir.

Thousands moved hearth and home from areas near the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border areas to seek refuge in government-run relief camps.

India and Pakistan reached an understanding on 10 May to end the military confrontation after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

On Saturday, the Congress' Jammu and Kashmir unit president Tariq Hameed Karra said, "Gandhi will visit shell-hit structures, including a gurdwara, a temple, a madrassa and a Christian missionary school. He will also meet the bereaved families and the members of the civil society.

"Gandhi is the first national leader to reach out to the affected population to express his solidarity and share their pain," he said.

During his visit to Jammu and Kashmir last month following the terror attack, Gandhi had said the idea behind the terror strike was to divide the people of the country and it was imperative that India stood united to defeat terrorism once and for all.