SrinagarAt least four Indian soldiers were killed Saturday in Pakistani firing which the defence sources describe as unprovoked along the Line of Control (LoC) near Keri in Nowshera sector, Indian officials said.
Unconfirmed media reports suggested that the Pakistan Army, violating the ceasefire agreement, fired indiscriminately on the Indian posts without any provocation. There was no immediate reaction from Pakistan.
Pakistani soldiers violated the 2003 cease-fire accord by targeting Indian posts in Rajouri sector, Indian army said in a statement describing the firing incident as an “unprovoked cease-fire violation.”
The statement said that the dead include an army officer and that Indian soldiers retaliated “strongly and effectively.”
Army’s Udhampur based defence Spokesman Col NN Joshi said that Pakistan Rangers in violation of ceasefire opened fire upon the army posts near Keri in Nowshera sector along the LoC.
Following the incident, heavy cross-border firing and shelling was reported at several places in the region.
Kashmir’s director-general of police, S.P. Vaid, said the four soldiers died after they were attacked by a team of attackers who came from the Pakistani side of Kashmir.
Five soldiers including a Major suffered injuries and evacuated to military hospital.
However, among the injured, four soldiers including the major succumbed later, the spokesman said, adding the soldiers manning the fence retaliated the fire strongly and effectively.
Of the four killed, the three have been identified as Army Major, Moharkar Prafulla Ambadas (32) of Bhandara district in Maharashtra, Lance Naik Gurmail Singh (34) of Amritsar district in Punjab and Sepoy Pargat Singh (30) Karnal district in Haryana and Lance Naik Gurmeet Singh.
The soldiers belonged to the 120-Infantry Brigade Battalion, and were on patrol when the incident took place.
Major Moharkar Prafulla Ambadas, Lance Naik Gurmail Singh and Sepoy Pargat Singh were grievously injured during the cease fire violation and succumbed to their injuries. Two other personnel also sustained injuries and are under medical treatment.
In the past, the Indian army has blamed a combination of the Pakistani army’s border action team and militants for carrying out operations along the Line of Control.
India and Pakistan have a long history of bitter relations over the Himalayan territory of Kashmir, which is claimed by both in its entirety. They have fought two of their three wars over the region since they gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
Both countries have previously accused the other of initiating past border skirmishes leading to the deaths of soldiers and civilians.
Last year, Indian and Pakistani soldiers engaged in some of the worst fighting along the Line of Control since the two countries agreed to the cease-fire accord.
Mehbooba Pays Rich Tributes To Slain Soldiers
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti Saturday paid rich tributes to four Army personnel, including a Major, killed in Pakistani firing along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district.
The Pakistani troops had targeted an Army patrol at Brat Galla in the Keri sector around 1215 hours today, in which the four Army personnel were killed, a defence spokesperson said.
The latest violation of ceasefire took place at a time when the chief minister was at the Rajouri district headquarters.
“Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti paid rich tributes to the Army Major and three jawans who were killed in an incident of cross-border shelling at Keri sector in Rajouri district,” an official spokesperson said.
He said the chief minister had conveyed her heartfelt condolences to the families of the slain soldiers.
The Deputy CM while expressing condolences with the bereaved families prayed for eternal peace to their departed souls.
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