In Jammu and Kashmir hundreds of residents along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) in Jammu region were evacuated to safer zones today as authorities chalked out countermeasures to safeguard civilians from Pakistani shelling. Akashvani Jammu Correspondent reports that as many as 12 people, including four children and two women, were killed and over 50 injured when the Pakistan army pounded forward villages in Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu region with artillery and mortar shelling earlier during the day. The shelling from across the border started shortly after Indian armed forces carried out missile attacks on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir to avenge the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that had left 26 civilians, mostly tourists, dead. The situation was altogether different in the affected areas like Poonch where people were seen moving to safer zones on their own. However, there was no cross-border firing in R. S Pura Sector but the residents have been asked to shift to ITI College in R S Pura where necessary arrangements have been made by the government for the lodgment of the border residents in view of the prevailing tense situation. The residents near the LoC in Akhnoor sector have also been informed by the authorities to shift to safer places. The district administration has mobilised all its resources to make necessary arrangements for the convenience of people, especially females, so that they do not face any problem at the temporary shelter homes. In Jammu, meanwhile, groups of people took out rallies and chanted slogans in praise of the country and the armed forces for undertaking the precision strikes. Political leaders, including Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Hameed Karra and former Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Ravinder Raina, condemned the Pakistani shelling on the civilian areas and also criticised Pakistan for targeting innocent civilians living close to the border and said the BJP-led government at the centre will ensure proper rehabilitation of the people affected by the cross-border shelling.