Pakistan has stepped up tension all along the line of Control (loC) in Jammu & Kashmir and carried out more ceasefire violations by targeting Indian positions in Drass and Kargil for the first time since the Kargil War in 1999. 

located in ladakh region of the State, Sandro post in Drass came under heavy fire from Pakistan on Thursday.  Similarly, Pakistani forces used small weapons and machine guns to attack a forward post in Kargil two days ago. In both cases, the Indian Army gave a swift and strong response. This region had not witnessed any ceasefire violation for the last 14 years after the Kargil War.Other sectors along the loC in Jammu & Kashmir divisions also reported repeated firing by Pakistan.

Pakistani firing was so far confined to Poonch and Rajouri sectors but the last few days saw exchange of fire between India and Pakistan in almost all sectors of the loC including Uri and Naugam in north Kashmir.  The International Border near Samba in Jammu also saw Pakistan shelling Border Security Force (BSF) posts. In all, 17 ceasefire violations by Pakistan have taken place since its commandoes killed five Indian soldiers in a cross-border raid in Poonch on August 6.

Explaining the reason for the spurt in heavy firing and ceasefire violations, officials said on Friday that Pakistan was targeting areas in Kashmir Valley and Kargil as the Indian Army had taken strong retaliatory measures in Poonch and Rajouri after its soldiers were killed on August 6. Given a free hand by the Government to deal with the situation, the Army is now using heavy automatic weapons, light and medium machine guns, besides mortars against Pakistani posts. lt-Gen DS Hooda, GOC 16 Corps said the Indian troops are responding strongly and sending a tough message across the loC.

Interacting with the media on the sidelines of a function in Jammu on Friday evening lt-Gen Hooda told reporters: “The Indian Army is responding strongly along the loC and not allowing anyone to disturb the counter-infiltration grid. We are also trying to keep the heads of the enemy soldiers down so that they cannot target the civilian population in forward areas.”

Moreover, intense firing is directed against Pakistani posts in Jandrot and Nikial located across the loC in Poonch and Mendhar. The Army is targeting 650 and 658 Mujahid battalions of Pakistan in these two sectors besides firing on 655 Mujahid battalion posts across the loC in Rajouri, they said.Elaborating on the situation on the International Border, officials said the headquarters of BSF in Jammu have received Intelligence reports of gradual mobilisation of troops on the other side of the border in Sialkot sector.

They said: “Intelligence reports are yet to be corroborated on ground zero but we cannot completely rule out the possibility, as tensions are building up due to continuous ceasefire violations even along the International Border. We have also received reports that the Pakistani troops are fortifying their defences along the International Border.” last month, on July 26, the BSF had raised the issue with Pakistan during the commander-level flag meeting in RS Pura sector after it detected that Pakistan Rangers were building

Given the seriousness of the situation, top officials of the State Government held two meeting with para-military forces and the Army in the last five days.  BSF Director-General Subhash Joshi reviewed the security situation along with a team of senior BSF officers in Jammu on Monday and on Friday Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami visited the border areas.  He later held a high-level meeting to take stock of the situation and operational preparedness of the security forces to deal with any eventuality.

Meanwhile, the Army said it has killed 28 militants on the loC in the hinterland in Kashmir Valley since the June 24 Hyderpora attack and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition.“Since the Hyderpora attack of June 24, there have been a series of successful operations both on the loC and in the hinterland area. We have killed 28 terrorists in this period, out of which 18 were eliminated on the loC and ten in the hinterland,” GOC of Srinagar-based 15 Corps lt-Gen Gurmeet Singh told reporters in Srinagar. He said eight of the slain terrorists were those who were injured and crossed back but died immediately on the other side of the loC. “We have inputs related to their deaths in those areas,” he said