Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said the killing of five Indian soldiers along the LoC in Poonch sector puts a question mark on Pakistan Government’s overtures to India for improving ties.
“(I) was briefed early this morning about the news that five of our soldiers had been killed on the LoC. My heartfelt condolences to the next of the kin,” Abdullah said on microblogging site Twitter.
“These incidents don’t help efforts to normalise or even improve relations with Pakistan and call into question the Pakistan’s government’s recent overtures,” he said.
Pakistani troops attacked an Indian post along the Line of Control in the Poonch sector late last night, killing five Indian soldiers.
Defence sources today said the Pakistani soldiers intruded into the Indian territory past midnight and ambushed the Sarla post on the Indian side of the LoC.
The incident comes hours after a BSF jawan was injured in firing from across Indo-Pak border in Samba district of J&K.
“There was sniper firing from some persons at around 15:55 hours from Pakistan side along the International Border (IB) at Narainpur Border Out Post (BOP) area in Ramgarh sector,” a senior BSF officer said.
Two rounds were fired from Pakistan side and the bullets hit Head Constable Ram Niwas Meena of 200 Battalion, he said.
On July 27, another BSF jawan was injured when Pakistani troops violated ceasefire twice in the space of 10 hours by targeting Indian posts along the Indo-Pak border in Poonch and Kathua districts.
The Pakistani troops had used mortars, RPGs and heavy machine guns leading to heavy firing exchanges.
On July 3, Pakistan violated ceasefire when it fired on cops, who had gone to LoC in Sabzian, Poonch to collect the body of a Pakistani intruder killed in an IED blast on July 1.
Pakistani troops fired on troops trying to evacuate injured porters after two were killed in IED attack by Pakistani militants along LoC in Poonch on July 8.
On July 12, Pakistani Rangers fired on Indian forward posts in Pindi belt along International Border (IB) in Jammu district.
Pakistani troops opened small arms firing on Indian posts in forward area along LoC in Poonch district on the night of July 22.