Pak kills 4 BSF men as truce ‘betrayed’
‘Unprovoked’ firing in Ramgarh began on Tuesday night
Jammu, June 13: Four Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, including an assistant commandant-rank officer, were killed and three others were injured as Pakistan Rangers opened fire along the International Border in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir in “betrayal” of a truce announced recently, officials said on Wednesday.
The “unprovoked” firing in Ramgarh sector, which began on Tuesday night, came days after the two border guarding forces, at a sector commander-level meeting on June 4, agreed to maintain peace and tranquillity along the IB.
“Since the ceasefire was on... we use the time to strengthen our defences. A team was going with defence material, when Pakistan violated the ceasefire and opened fire at them with flat trajectory weapon followed by mortar firing,” Additional Director General (ADG) of BSF, Western Command, K. N. Chaubey, told reporters here.
Another team of the BSF led by Assistant Commandant Jitender Singh rushed to evacuate them and a mortar fired from Pakistan’s Asraf Post exploded close to them at Chamliyal Border Out Post, resulting in fatal causalities, he said.
The BSF ADG said that it was very unfortunate and “the ceasefire announcement made and agreed on was to be honoured”. “We have honoured it and Pakistan has not honoured it. And what Pakistan does is Pakistan's business and how we respond to betrayal is our job,” he said.
Assistant Commandant Jitender Singh, SI Rajneesh, ASI Ramniwas and Constable Hansraj were killed in the Pakistani firing. Eleven BSF troops have been killed in cross-border firing incidents along the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir till date in 2018, the highest casualty figure for the border force in a year in the past five years, the latest data revealed.