Army kills 7 Pak soldiers in raid across border

Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 15

The Army struck hard as it killed seven Pakistani soldiers and injured four others in the Mendhar sector of Poonch district today.

The action is being seen as revenge for the death of Lance Naik Yogesh Bhadane, who was killed in a ceasefire violation in the Sunderbani sector of Rajouri district on January 13.

Sources said Indian soldiers crossed the Line of Control (LoC) and killed seven Pakistani soldiers. “Four other Pakistani soldiers were injured in the action with no injuries reported on the Indian side,” said a source.

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“Our operation was in retaliation to Pakistani provocation of January 13 in which Lance Naik Yogesh Bhadane was killed,” he added.

Pakistan has confirmed the death of its four soldiers and issued a statement reading: “The troops were busy in line communication maintenance along the LoC in Jandrot-Kotli sector when they were fired upon and hit with heavy mortars by Indian forces.”

This is the first major strike by the Indian Army this year against the Pakistani troops along the LoC. In the past also, the Army has been retaliating strongly whenever Pakistan violates the ceasefire agreement and kills Indian soldiers. 

Today’s action came a day after the Army Chief called for ramping up the heat on Pakistan to cut the flow of cross-border terror activities.

Pakistan’s Inter-Service Public Relations had claimed that three Indian soldiers were killed and a “few injured” in an exchange of fire, but the claim was rejected by the Army here. “We haven’t lost any soldier in the action,” said an Army officer.

The action was undertaken on a day when the Indian Army is celebrating Army Day across the country.

Meanwhile, Pakistan today summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh to protest the deaths of its soldiers.