Pak violates ceasefire again
Defence minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday asked the Army and other security forces to go all out against militants and terrorists and target them wherever they are in Jammu and Kashmir.
He also stressed upon the need to sustain “tight vigil” along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) with Pakistan and thwart any attempts of infiltration from across the borders. The government has already given the Army and the Border Security Force (BSF) a free hand to respond to any ‘misadventure’ from across the borders, the sources here said.
Jaitley, however, also asked the security forces that while going tough against militants they should avoid collateral damage during counterinsurgency operations in J&K and “ensure safety of the innocent people while dealing firmly with the inimical elements”.
The defence minister held a single marathon session with top officials of various security forces including Army here on Wednesday as part of a series of meetings planned by him during a two-day visit of Jammu and Kashmir to review the overall security situation in the restive State.
He is also scheduled to visit a few locations along the LoC which witnessed escalation in tensions following the beheading of two Indian soldiers allegedly by Pakistan army’s Border Action Team (BAT) on May 1 and subsequent skirmishes in which several civilians were killed and have forced the border dwellers to desert their shell-hit hamlets.
Army Chief General Bipin Rawat also arrived here from New Delhi and after holding a separate Jammu, May 17: Pakistan Rangers violated the ceasefire again on Wednesday by firing on forward posts along the LoC in Balakote sector of Jammu of Kashmir.
“Pakistan army resorted to firing on forward posts along the LoC in Balakote sector from 0050 hours on Wednesday,” a defence spokesman said.
Pakistan troops also fired on forward posts and civilian areas on Tuesday night along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district. The firing continued meeting with the local commanders to discuss the security scenario in the hinterland and along the de facto border with Pakistan, he joined the defence minister at a briefing held at the till 0130 hours, the spokesman said.
He said the Pakistan army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatic weapons and 82 mm and 120 mm mortars from 1830 hours last night along the LoC in Nowshera sector. The firing continued till 2100 hours on Wednesday. The Pakistan Rangers fired shells on the intervening night of May 15 and 16 on forward areas and civilian belts along the LoC in three belts of Rajouri district. Army’s 15 Corps headquarters in Srinagar’s Badami Bagh Cantonment during which Jaitley was briefed on ground regarding the operational and logistics preparedness. Srinagar, May 17: In less than two weeks, security forces on Wednesday conducted the second major cordonand-search operation in Kashmir’s Shopian district but called it off after hours as no militant could be found but not before stone-pelting mobs hampered it.
The search operation, in which a large number of security forces were involved, was launched in Heff village in the Zainapora area following information about presence of militants there, an Army official said.
The operation, which started in the early hours, was hampered by local residents who pelted the forces with stones, a police official said.
The official said additional security force personnel were sent to the area to disperse the stone-pelters. No casualties were reported in stone-pelting, he said.