Stolen futures: The Kashmir children caught up in India-Pakistan conflict

Deadly cross-border shelling tore apart families and turned schools into ruins

20250529 Humera Chouhan MAIN

Humera Chouhan, 13, shows a wound on her arm caused by a shell that exploded near her home in Surankot, Jammu and Kashmir. (Photo by Durdana Bhat)

KAMRAN YOUSUF and DURDANA BHAT

POONCH, Jammu and Kashmir -- Sanjeev Kumar still hears the explosions in his sleep.

It was just past daybreak on May 7 when he made the decision to flee. All night, shelling by Pakistani forces had rattled the city of Poonch in India-controlled Kashmir, each blast shaking the walls of his home. He bundled his wife, sister and 13-year-old son, Vihaan, into their car and set off for Jammu, hoping to outrun the violence, which came after New Delhi launched military strikes against its neighbor in the wake of a terrorist attack in the region.

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