The Army on Thursday denied a Pakistani claim that five Indian soldiers had been killed along with three of its own troops in firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu & Kashmir.
“In efforts to divert attention from precarious situation in IOJ&K (Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir), Indian Army increases firing along LOC. Three Pakistani soldiers embraced shahadat. Pakistan Army responded effectively. Five Indian soldiers killed, many injured, bunkers damaged. Intermittent exchange of fire continues,” Pakistan’s Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) claimed in a post on Twitter. In an uncommon move, DG ISPR also put out pictures of the soldiers that it said had been killed in firing across the LoC.
Refuting the Pakistani claims of Indian casualties as “fictitious”, the Indian Army said, “CFV (cease fire violations) occurred in Nowgam and Krishna Ghati sectors. No casualty to own troops.”
Army officials confirmed that three Pakistani soldiers had been killed in India’s response to firing from across the LoC in the Nowgam sector.
In the wake of the Centre’s decision to revoke the special status under Article 370 for Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the State, Pakistan has been trying to draw attention to the issue. While there had been heavy exchange of fire and infiltration attempts just before the announcement, there had been a perceptible decline since then, army officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The officials said they now expect infiltration attempts and CFVs to increase in the coming weeks as Pakistan would attempt to draw international attention to Kashmir. Earlier this week, in response to questions from The Hindu , Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said that “if the adversary has to activate the LoC the choice is his”.
On the security assessment along the LoC, Gen. Rawat had stated that as far army and the services were concerned they had to always be prepared, adding that “the assessment is, should anything go wrong, we are prepared.”
