LoC fire: BSF troops destroy 45 Pakistan posts, kill 5 officers

LoC fire: BSF troops destroy 45 Pakistan posts, kill 5 officers

New Delhi: India and Pakistan exchanged heavy mortar fire and gunfire along the international border, with Pakistani troops targeting over 130 villages and 60 BOPs overnight in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts, leaving 12 people, including three BSF jawans, injured. The firing and shelling continued intermittently till 11 am in the Pargwal, Kanachak, Arnia and Ramgarh sub-sectors.

 

The Pakistan Rangers shelled almost the entire 192-km border in the night. Nearly 30,000 people were displaced after one of the worst violations of the 2003 ceasefire by Pakistan, that has left eight people dead and 80 others, including nine securitymen, injured since October 1. People from 113 border hamlets have migrated, leaving these hamlets deserted.

 

“The enemy has realised that times have changed and their old habits will not be tolerated. People know my intentions, and I need not express those in words. Where jawans have to speak, they speak with their finger on the trigger and they will continue to speak that way,” the PM said, responding to Opposition criticism against him. 

 

“Today, when bullets are being fired on the border, it is the enemy that is screaming. Our jawans have responded to the aggression with courage,” Mr Modi declared at an election rally in Baramati, Maharashtra. Sources said the Army was ready to assist the BSF in any eventuality.

 

The PM was later given a detailed presentation in New Delhi on the action taken by the BSF and was told that it had virtually destroyed 45 border outposts of the Pakistan Rangers, killing five of their officers. 

 

The PM, sources added, was also told that in wake of the strong retaliation by Indian forces, the Pakistan Rangers had left their BOPs and were hiding in villages close to the international border.

 

“Such an issue should not be part of a political debate... Elections will come and go, governments will come and go, but please don’t demoralise those fighting on the border by debating these things for political gain,” the PM was quoted by news agencies as saying at Baramati.

 

Mr Jaitley said it was an attempt by Pakistan to “precipitate tension (at the international border) where none existed”.