24 new PoK guests cross sides in Karvan-e-Aman bus

Srinagar, Sept 26: Twenty-four new guests from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) are among 62 people, who crossed sides on the Line of Control in the Karvan-e-Aman bus, operating between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, capital of PoK in Uri sector, where five infiltrators were killed by security forces during the past 72 hours. Official sources told UNI this morning that 24 residents of PoK, including nine women and five children, arrived at Kaman Post last evening after crossing the Aman Setu, peace bridge, on foot to meet their relatives, separated in 1947 due to partition. Three Kashmiris, including a woman, who had gone to PoK, also returned to their homes after completing their stay on the other side of the LoC. Only three Kashmiris crossed over to the other side though 32 PoK residents, including nine women and eight children, who had arrived here in previous buses returned to their homes after completing their stay. The service continued even after regular infiltration bids were being made by militants from across the border. Army foiled a militant attack on its Kalgi camp in Uri sector in Baramulla by killing four infiltrators on September 24. Meanwhile, alert troops killed a militant near the LoC in Boniyar in Baramulla this morning. The bus service, a major Confidence Building Measure (CBM), was taken to allow resident of both sides, separated in 1947 to meet each other. The first bus operated despite opposition by militant outfits on April 7, 2005 and later all separatist leaders, barring hardline Hurriyat Conference (HC) chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) chief Shabir Ahmad Shah, travelled in the bus to PoK. However, only the state subjects from both sides are eligible to travel in the bus after intelligence agencies of Pakistan and India clear their names. So far thousands of families, separated due to partition, have met each other after the introduction of the peace bus. UNI