Srinagar: The Army launched on Wednesday a massive counter-offensive against Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, a day after three Indian soldiers were killed and one of the bodies was mutilated.
Pakistan’s authorities said three of its soldiers and 10 others were killed in firing from the Indian side. They also said seven Indian soldiers were killed in retaliation, a claim the Indian Army strongly refuted.
Intense exchanges of artillery fire between the facing troops have caused panic in bordering areas in the state. At many places, people have started fleeing to safety.
Defence sources said India retaliated with full force to Tuesday’s incursion and brutality in Machhal sector of Kupwara district by targeting Pakistan’s military posts in several sectors — from Gurez in the Valley to Jammu’s Rajouri district — with artillery fire and machine guns.
The Army also responded “strongly and befittingly” to renewed firing and shelling from across the de facto border in Bhimber Gali, Krishna Ghati and Nowshera sectors of Poonch and Rajouri districts, officials said.
Authorities in Islamabad said that three Pakistani soldiers were killed in an exchange of fire with India’s troops near the LoC on Wednesday. The media wing of Pakistan’s Army identified them as Captain Taimoor Ali Khan, Havaldar Mushtaq Hussain and Lance Naik Ghulam Hussain.
Government officials in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, said that Indian troops targeted a passenger bus in Lawat near the LoC, killing nine people and injuring 11 others.
They also said that in a separate incident of Indian shelling in Nakyal and Tatta Pani areas close to the de facto border, one person was killed and seven others injured.
The BSF said in Jammu that two of its jawans were injured in the latest ceasefire violation by Pakistani along the LoC in Rajouri district on Wednesday. A report from Jammu said that the BSF jawans were injured when a mortar shell landed on their post.
The Army said that its offensive is a direct message to Pakistan that mutilation of its soldiers is not acceptable and India’s response will be quick and massive.
The Army had vowed on Tuesday “heavy retribution” after the Machhal incident by saying “retribution will be heavy for this cowardly act”.
Rifleman Prabhu Singh was beheaded in a cross-LoC attack by the members of Pakistan’s Border Action Team. The other slain jawans are Grenadier Manoj Kumar and Rifleman Shashank Kumar Singh. All three belonged to the Army’s Rashtriya Rifles and were in their mid-twenties, a defence spokesman here said.
The gory incident was second of its kind in the same sector in less than a month. On October 29, infiltrating militants had mutilated the body of 30-year-old Sepoy Mandeep Singh, who was killed in a brief firefight.
Meanwhile, Union home minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the security situation in the country. During an hour-long meeting, the minister was briefed about the incident in Machhal. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and other top officials attended the meeting.
Tension between the two South Asian neighbours and fatal border skirmishes involving the facing troops rose after 19 Indian soldiers were killed in a deadly terror attack on an Army base in Uri in September 18, prompting India to launch a global diplomatic offensive, and carry out anti-terror surgical strikes across the LoC.
The active hostilities have claimed scores of civilian lives. Reports said that hundreds of families have been fleeing homes and relocating to safer places to escape border skirmishes. Local political groups and human rights activists have expressed concern over increasing civilian casualties.
