4 Pak army troopers dead in retaliation
*Bid to push militants during firing fails
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, July 17: In fresh escalation of tension on the Line of Control (LoC) which comes at a day when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Ladakh and Kashmir, three members of a family were killed and another injured as Pakistani troops suddenly resorted to heavy mortar shelling and firing on the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch sector prompting effective retaliation from the Indian side in which at least four Pakistani troopers were killed and two injured.
Late tonight, Pakistan army shelled forward Indian posts and villages in Khari Karmara, Gulpur and surrounding villages in Poonch sector using long range mortars to directly target the civilians. The Indian troops retaliated effectively leading to heavy exchanges.
There were reports that Pakistan army tried to push group of three to four armed infiltrators into the Indian territory to cause subversive activities under the cover of mortar shelling and firing.
SSP Poonch Ramesh Angral told the Excelsior that a long range mortar shell fell inside a house at village Karmara around 9.30 pm blasting the structure in which three members of a family were killed and another was injured.
The dead have been identified as Mohammad Rafiq, 58, his wife Rafia Bi, 50 and 16-year-old son Irfan. Another family member Irshad Ahmad was injured.
Bodies of the victims have been shifted to the hospital for post-mortem.
Few days back, two women were killed in Pakistan shelling in Mendhar sector of Poonch, taking civilian casualties this month in the border district to five.
“The Indian Army retaliated firing and shelling to silence the Pakistani guns,” sources said adding that at least four Pakistan army personnel were killed and two others injured. Number of casualties could be higher on Pakistan side as exact reports were still awaited.
Two Pakistani posts were destroyed in the Indian retaliation which, according to sources, was necessitated to silence the Pakistani guns which were directly targeting the civilian areas. Some houses were damaged in Pakistan shelling.
There were reports that Pakistan army also tried to push group of three to four armed infiltrators into the Indian territory under the cover of firing and shelling but their plot was foiled with timely retaliation by the troops.
The infiltrators reportedly escaped back from the LoC without trying to make any attempt to enter into this side finding the troops alert.
It may be mentioned here that Pakistan army has been regularly resorting to ceasefire violations and aiding and abetting infiltration attempts by the militants on the LoC in twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri. A number of infiltration attempts have been thwarted by the Army on the LoC leading to killing of some militants.
“This was in view of frustration on part of Pakistan army which has failed to push infiltrators into Jammu and Kashmir despite several attempts that they directly targeted civilian areas tonight killing three members of the family,” sources said.
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