India has announced that it has fired mortars at Pakistani army posts across their disputed border in Kashmir, a rare public disclosure of such a pre-emptive assault against its neighbour.
Troops fired at military camps in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir which were being used to harbour militants, an Indian army spokesman said.
‘As part of our counter-terror operations, punitive fire assaults across LoC (Line of Control, the de facto border) are being undertaken by the Indian army,’ Major-General Ashok Narula told a briefing in New Delhi.
‘(A) recent action by our troops in Naushera sector has caused some damage to Pakistani army posts which are supporting infiltrations.
‘This is part of our strategy to counter terrorism,’ he said, adding India would ‘proactively’ resist militant incursions.
The army released footage of smouldering bunkers in ruins after being hit by mortar bombs. The date and place of the bombing was not disclosed.
‘Indian claims of destroying Pakistani post along LOC in Naushera Sec and firing by Pak Army on civilians across LOC are false,’ Pakistan’s military spokesman tweeted.
Indian Defence Minister Arun Jaitley posted on Twitter that the army was taking ‘preemptive and measured actions’ to counter terrorism.
The hostile neighbours regularly exchange mortar fire across the Kashmiri border despite signing a ceasefire in 2003.
But it is very rare for India to disclose details of its strikes against Pakistan, or release videos as proof of such assaults.
The muscular approach is likely to raise its neighbour’s hackles at a particularly tense time.
Indian accused Pakistani troops earlier this month of murdering and mutilating Indian soldiers at the border, and vowed revenge for the ‘despicable’ act. Pakistan denied responsibility.
India won a symbolic victory over its bitter rival last week when the UN’s top court ordered Pakistan to stay the execution of an Indian national convicted of spying.
Tensions have been high since India launched cross-border strikes last September across the de facto border in Kashmir.
The region has been divided between the two countries since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in full and have fought two wars over it.
After suspected Pakistani border action teams entered India to behead two Indian soldiers in the Poonch sector last month, the Army responded by bringing in more troops and heavy weaponry to Jammu and Kashmir to beef up its positions on the Line of Control.
The Army also received intelligence inputs that the terrorists had dispersed across multiple places along the Line of Control.
Even more worryingly, the Army observed highly-trained Pakistan Army Special Services Group commandos at the forward bases indicating a potential increase in the operations of Pakistan’s Border Action Teams, allegedly including both Pakistan Army troops and terrorists.
A Pakistan Army SSG operative is believed to have died in the retaliatory firing of the Indian Army on the LoC.
Against this backdrop, the Army decided to launch a pre-emptive assault on Pakistan Army posts and locations to deter future attacks and attempted infiltration into India.
There were intelligence intercepts that suggested Indian posts between Mendhar and Poonch were on the target of these attackers.
From the night of May 9 and 10, India positioned troops and artillery guns to launch an assault on the posts to cause maximum damage to the enemy positions, sources said.
The fire assault continued for three days at locations where even anti-tank guided missiles and heavy weapons were used by the troops, they said.
‘Pakistan Army has been providing support to infiltrators by engaging our forward troops from their weapon emplacements and pill-boxes closer to the Line of Control.
‘As part of our counter-terrorism strategy, the Indian Army proactively dominates LoC.
‘While doing so, locations aiding infiltration of terrorists are being targeted and destroyed to deny advantage to terrorists thus curbing infiltration attempts,’ Army media head Maj Gen AK Narula said in a briefing.
The operations were carried out under the watch of the Prime Minister’s Office in coordination between the Army headquarters and the formations under the Northern Command, sources said.
Army media head Maj Gen AK Narula said the force had to initiate the ‘proactive action’ against Pakistani attempts of infiltration and targeted Pakistan Army forward posts in Naushera sector across the LoC.
A video as a proof of the actions has been released showing the destruction of a Pakistan Army post somewhere in the Naushera sector.
In its reaction, Pakistan summoned Indian deputy high commissioner in Islamabad on May 13 after which Pakistan Army stated it would reply to ‘misadventure’ of the Indians on the LoC.
The Pakistanis had launched a massive offensive on Indian villages on May 16 by targeting military and civilian posts.
Former Indian Army officers have welcomed the steps taken by the Army to establish peace on LoC. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley also supported the Army actions.
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