4 Army men killed in 440 truce violations post abrogation

Ranjit Thakur
Jammu, September 21

There have been over 440 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Jammu region by Pakistani troops following the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5.

Pakistani troops have been continuously violating the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch, Rajouri and Akhnoor sectors with a motive to provide a cover to terrorists attempting to infiltrate into J&K to create unrest in the Valley.

According to official figures, 440 ceasefire violations were reported in the last 47 days in Poonch, Rajouri and Akhnoor sectors, in which four Army men were martyred while 27 soldiers and a civilian received serious injuries.

There have been close to 10 ceasefire violations on an average every day since August 5 and the Centre has called upon the Pakistani administration to adhere to the 2003 ceasefire understanding, maintain peace and tranquillity along the LoC and the International Border.

Although there has been hardly any cross-border firing along the IB this year, since the past three days, Pakistani Rangers are using small arm shelling to target the Manyari post of the Hira Nagar sector in Kathua.

“The focus of Pakistan is on Kashmir. It wants to push infiltrators directly to increase the violence and attack security forces because chances of infiltration are higher on the LoC as compared to the IB. The firing that you have been witnessing on the IB for the past few days is only to stop the construction work along the IB in Kathua,” a senior BSF officer said.

J&K Director General of Police Dilbag Singh had said, “A large number of militants along the LoC are waiting for infiltration as they were brought to the Army pickets. Camps have been made in Gurez, Karna, Keran and Poonch areas, but our anti-infiltration grid is efficient enough to tackle them.”