Pak army hides behind civilians, fires rockets during procession

Smoke billows out of mortar shells fired by Pakistan army in Jhallas area of Poonch on Tuesday. -Excelsior/Harbhajan
Smoke billows out of mortar shells fired by Pakistan army in Jhallas area of Poonch on Tuesday. -Excelsior/Harbhajan

Indian troops don’t retaliate to save people

Army posts, villages targeted

Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Feb 5: In a grievous act of provocation that escalated fresh tension on the Line of Control (LoC), Pakistan army today targeted forward Army camps and posts in Jhallas area of Krishna Ghati sector in Poonch district with rockets but the Indian troops didn’t retaliate as there were huge processions of civilians passing close to the LoC on Pakistan side on the occasion of ‘Solidarity Day’ in Pakistan.
Official sources confirmed to the Excelsior that timing of targeting Indian Army camps and posts by the Pakistani troops was deliberately chosen when the processions by the civilians were crossing Pakistan side of the LoC as retaliation by the Indian side would have led to civilian casualties giving Pakistan a chance to blame India for civilian killings.

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However, the Indian troops could realize Pakistan army’s mischief and exercised restraint by not retaliating despite grave provocation of its posts being targeted with rocket launchers.
“As soon as processions started in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) across Poonch districts on the occasion of ‘Solidarity Day’, Pakistan army fired two rockets targeting forward posts of Indian troops in Jhallas in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district and simultaneously resorted to heavy mortar shelling and firing in civilian areas of Jhallas and Digwar.
Sources said the rockets launched by the Pakistan army aiming Army camps and posts failed to hit the targets and exploded harmlessly. There were no casualties or damage in the two rocket explosions.
Within minutes of the rocket explosions on the LoC, the large processions started passing out across LoC in connection with ‘Solidarity Day’, which was being observed all across Pakistan today. The India Army held back its retaliatory action as it might have caused civilian casualties on Pakistan side in view of the processions.
However, sources said, the Indian side reserved the right to retaliate at any time with full force and teach Pakistani troops a lesson for firing the rockets targeting Army camps and posts. They didn’t rule out that Pakistani army intentionally chose the timing of firing rockets when the processions were passing from close to the LoC areas in PoK as retaliation by the Indian side would have resulted into civilian casualties, giving Pakistan a chance to exploit the situation at international forums.
This was after nearly a couple of months that Pakistani troops fired rockets on the Army camps and posts. Prior to this, they had twice targeted Poonch Brigade Headquarters in the heart of Poonch town but failed to cause any casualties or damages. India had retaliated by striking at Military Station of Pakistan army in PoK in which seven Pakistan army troopers were eliminated.
Meanwhile, soon after firing rockets, Pakistan army resorted to heavy mortar shelling and firing on forward Indian posts and civilian areas in Jhallas and Digwar areas of Poonch. Several mortar shells fell in the civilian areas in which the people had narrow escape.
One of the mortar shells fired by Pakistan army exploded just outside the house of one Krishan Lal in Jhallas in which his family of five members had narrow escape. People living in forward villages of Jhallas and Digwar, who were working in the fields or had gone out, rushed back and took shelter inside their houses or bunkers following mortar shelling and firing by the Pakistan army in civilian areas.
Shelling and firing continued for about two hours, sources said.
Several mortar shells fell close to houses of the civilians and open fields and exploded with bangs.
Splinters of mortar shells fell inside the houses.
Meanwhile, panic has once again gripped the border dwellers living close to the LoC following resumption of mortar shelling in civilian areas by the Pakistani troops, disrupting normal life of the people. For the past few days, Pakistan army had only been targeting forward posts of the Army and not civilian areas, the people said.
The latest ceasefire violation ended several days of lull in the firing from across the border.
Since the beginning of the new year, Pakistani troops have been regularly violating the ceasefire especially along the LoC in twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch. A few incidents of ceasefire violations were also witnessed along the International Border in January.
On January 15, Assistant Commandant Vinay Prasad of BSF was martyred when he was hit by a Pakistani sniper from across the IB.
An Army porter lost his life along the LoC in Rajouri district on January 11. The same day two Army personnel including a Major were martyred in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack along the LoC in Nowshera sector of Rajouri.
The year 2018 had witnessed the highest number (2,936) of ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops in the last 15 years along the Indo-Pak border.

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