Deadly loop leaves LOC truce in tatters

NEWDELHI: A December 25 crossborder raid by India in which four Pakistani soldiers were killed was the immediate trigger for heightened military activity along the Line of Control that saw the killing of four Indian soldiers, including a captain, in a mortar attack in the Rajouri sector of Jammu region on Sunday, according to a senior army officer who tracks developments on the de facto border.

Till February 5, 2018, there have been 242 incidents of the ceasefire being violated by Pakistan, according to the Indian army.

The December 25 attack itself was a response to the December 23 killing of four Indian soldiers by Pakistan in an ambush in Keri-rajouri sector.

Pakistan has shelled Indian posts and civilian areas almost every day since December 25, leaving India with no choice but to launch a series of fierce counter assaults.

The army’s hardened military resolve was reiterated on Monday by its vice chief Lieutenant General Sarath Chand who said the force would lets its “actions speak” at the LOC.

“What is unfolding at the LOC is a worsening loop of action and reaction. The Pakistanis violate the cease-fire and we strike back. I see no signs of the tensions easing off,” said Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia (retd), who was the director general of military operations (DGMO) between 2012 and 2014.

While the December 23 ambush may have been the trigger for the regular exchange of fire, analysts say the first signs of Pakistan raising the ante along the disputed border were visible in the months following the September 2016 surgical strikes by India against terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.