It was only cross-border firing: Pak

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday denied that Indian troops had carried out surgical strikes across the Line of Control, saying it had responded to “cross-border fire” from the Indian side that killed two soldiers and injured nine more.

Foreign secretary Aizaz Chaudhry summoned Indian envoy Gautam Bambawale on Thursday evening and rejected the “so-called surgical strikes” and condemned what he described as “unprovoked firing” by Indian forces on the LoC, state-run Radio Pakistan said.

Chaudhry said the Pakistan military “will continue to give a befitting response to any act of aggression”. He added that India had escalated tensions on the LoC to divert attention from the “grave human rights situation” in Kashmir.

Pakistan’s civil and military leadership reacted after India’s director general of military operations (DGMO) Lt Gen Ranbir Singh said Indian soldiers conducted surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads across the LoC, causing significant casualties.

The first reaction came from the Pakistan military’s media arm, which said in a strongly worded statement: “There has been no surgical strike by India, instead there had been cross-border fire initiated and conducted by India which is existential phenomenon.”

The military dismissed the surgical strikes as an “illusion”, while defence minister Khawaja Asif referred to them as “a lie”.