A war-like situation persisted on the International Border (IB) and the line of Control (loC) on Friday as Pakistan indulged in repeated ceasefire violations and India hit back hard by shelling Pakistani positions.
Two civilians were killed in Jammu region in cross-border shelling and firing overnight even as the Border Security Force claimed to have killed 15 Pakistan Rangers over the last one week. Three BSF personnel also attained martyrdom during the same period while two others received injuries in the heavy exchange of fire.
According to senior BSF authorities, the sharp shooters of the paramilitary force have caused extensive damage to forward observation posts and border outposts inside Pakistani territory.
Meanwhile, two civilians, Isma Rehman (50) of Mendhar in Poonch and a young boy Ajay Chand of Gigiryal in Chamb sector lost their lives in the cross-border firing by Pakistan on Friday.
Additional Director General (ADG) of BSF (Western Command) Arun Kumar told reporters that after Indian sniper Gurnam Singh was martyred after being targeted by Pakistan Rangers last Friday, at least 15 Pakistan Rangers, including their frontier forces and other security forces have been killed by the BSF in strong retaliation in the last one week.
“A lot of people have been injured and no less than one dozen civilians have been killed. From their announcements from the mosques and other inputs, we know that their hospitals are full of injured people. They have suffered much more damage than we have suffered,” he said.
The ADG, BSF also claimed that the intense shelling from the Pakistani side gives a fair idea that Pakistan Army regulars have taken position behind Pakistan Rangers and were targeting civilian pockets to inflict maximum damage on the Indian side.
Unconfirmed reports claimed that Pakistan Army had assisted Border Action Team (BAT) to target some of the Indian forward posts along the loC in Keri area of Khour in Akhnoor sector while a similar attempt was made in BG sector of Poonch on Thursday. Neither the Army authorities nor Ministry of Defence PRO confirmed these reports.
Alert Army men reportedly foiled both the attacks, raising concerns on the Indian side about the vulnerability of some of the Indian forward posts to such tactics.
The loC in these sectors witnessed intense exchange of fire, forcing the residents to flee to safer places.
Pakistani troops have been constantly pounding forward Indian villages across at least nine sectors of Kathua, Hiranagar, Samba, RS Pura, Arnia, Kanachak, Pallanwala, Rajori and Poonch for the last 24 hours. More than 60 forward border posts along the IB and loC are affected by the cross-border firing.
Majority of villagers living within the firing range have vacated their homes and shifted to safer places as Pakistan Army is resorting to use of 82 mm and 120 mm shells to target the civilian pockets in Sunderbani, Naushera and Balakote sectors.
Several families spent the long night inside bunkers while people along the IB took shelter at religious places and community halls.
Intelligence agencies have issued fresh warning to the local authorities to remain vigilant as Pakistani militants could try to sneak inside the country to launch terror strikes on vital security installations.
Meanwhile, Army sources said in Delhi that the loC has seen a surge in ceasefire violations by Pakistan since the Indian Army carried out surgical strikes against terrorist launch pads in Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir on September 29. At least 57 violations have taken place since then. More than 105 successful bids were noticed during this period. This figure is more than double the number for the entire year last year.
Heavy firing on Indian posts is part of Pakistan Army’s tactics to provide covering fire to militants trying to sneak into Kashmir before the onset of winter in the next few weeks
Giving these statistics here on Friday, officials also said nearly 130 terrorists were killed by the security forces so far as against 97 killed last year. A large number of militants this year were killed on the loC while trying to infiltrate. This indicates that Pakistan Army and ISI were determined to escalate terrorist violence in Jammu & Kashmir.
Elaborating upon ceasefire violations, they said the loC so far had witnessed 115 cross-border firing this year by the Pakistan Army as compared to 150 for the entire last year. They admitted that the violations will go up significantly in the next few weeks and the Army was giving a befitting response.