Will respond with fire if challenged again: Army
Days after India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire, the Poonch Brigade commander on Tuesday said that the Army would respond again, if challenged.
The Poonch Brigade was directly dealing with the intense shelling by Pakistan on Army posts and civilians. The Army retaliated with might that led to heavy damage on the Pakistani side, specifically in areas opposite Poonch along the Line of Control (LoC).
While briefing media, Brigadier Mudit Mahajan, the Commander of the Poonch Brigade, said the losses that the Pakistan army faced were not just in numbers, but also in terms of morale and initiative.
“Today, they have lost their credibility before their own nation. So far, we have inputs about imposing heavy numbers in fatal and non-fatal casualties upon the enemy. The numbers are still adding up with each passing day and our intelligence agencies are on the job to corroborate and verify these inputs.”
He further said, “Operation Sindoor is not over, it only remains suspended for the time being. Therefore, the Indian Army remains alert. If challenged, we too will respond again, not with words, but fire and the nation’s resolve.”
Brig Mahajan highlighted that the Poonch Brigade was engaged in intense and continuous operations during Operation Sindoor to respond to the unprovoked aggression by Pakistan across the LoC.
“We did not wait to react; we were prepared to respond. To that extent, I will say that the Poonch Brigade was not only a part, but was at the heart of Operation Sindoor,” he added.
Many civilians were killed in Poonch town and adjoining areas during the Pakistani shelling on May 7.
He said, “The Pakistan-sponsored terror strike at Pahalgam, was met with a calibrated response from the Indian Army, initially focusing solely on terrorist infrastructure. The Army struck with unmatched precision— six of nine critical terrorist targets opposite Poonch, Rajouri and Akhnoor were hit and neutralised effectively that night.”
Plug, not fuse, in Pak artillery shell
- After a 155-mm unexploded ordnance (UXO) was reported in the Mendhar Sector following ceasefire violations, the Army’s bomb disposal team reached the site to destroy the same, only to find that the artillery shell was with a plug instead of the fuse.
- An Army official said, “Fitting of a fuse on an artillery shell is the most basic training imparted to gunners worldwide as part of their basic training. This UXO is an apt example of the extremely shallow training standards of the Pakistan artillery.”
