Two soldiers were killed and five others, including two women, were injured as Pakistan Rangers resorted to shelling and firing to “provide cover to two infiltration bids” in the Pir Panjal Valley’s Poonch district on Sunday.
Soldiers posted in Krishna Ghati first spotted the movement of militants around 2 a.m. “Two infiltration bids, assisted by Pakistani ceasefire violations, were foiled in the Krishna Ghati sector. One soldier was killed,” said a spokesman of the Northern Command.
Sources said the militants fled back into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as the Pakistan Army continued covering fire till 4 a.m.
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The deceased soldier was identified as sepoy Gursewak Singh (23), a resident of Warana in Tarn Taran district, Punjab, and belonging to 22 Sikh Regiment.
In the afternoon, fresh shelling left a Border Security Force jawan injured, after splinters hit him.
A mortar shell and heavy machine gun fire wounded a woman, identified as Taslim Akhtar. She was working in the fields when a shell exploded in Salotri village.
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In another incident of ceasefire violation, a soldier died in the Saujiyan belt in the Mendhar area, Poonch district. Two were wounded when a mortar shell hit a post on the Line of Control (LoC).
The deceased soldier was identified as Naik Rajinder. The injured were identified as Subedar Sanjay and Constable Yaqoob Beig. One woman special police officer, Zarifa Bibi, was also injured.
Of late, Pakistan is using long-range 120-mm mortar shells. These have led to fresh migration as more areas have become vulnerable. Though no ceasefire violation has been reported along the 192-km IB in Jammu, sources said Pakistan is trying to push more militants through the Pir Panchal Range before winter sets in.