India strikes Pak along Nowshera in 'punitive action', calls it 'proactive counter-terror' ops
Indian Army, in a “punitive action”, has targeted forward Pakistani post and bunkers in the Nowshera sector along the Line of Control (LoC). The announcement of this significant counter-infiltration operation comes two days after a foiled infiltration attempt in Naugam where the army lost three personnel in an encounter. Four Pakistani infiltrators were killed in the operation in Naugam.
The operation which was carried out reportedly using rocket launchers, anti-tank missiles, automatic grenade launchers and 106 mm guns, targeted Pakistani posts aiding infiltration.
More of such targeted attacks are expected in the future as summer sets in and infiltration bids by terror outfits, aided by the Pakistani army, continue unabated.
According to the reports, the operation was carried out around 9 May.
A video of the strike released by the army shows multiple blasts taking out the posts and bunkers on the other side of the LoC.
#WATCH Pakistani posts destroyed by Indian Army in Nowshera (Jammu and Kashmir) pic.twitter.com/whrWb0wMfg
— ANI (@ANI_news) May 23, 2017
Briefing the press, Major General Ashok Narula called for the need of proactive counter-terror operations against “infiltration attempts supported by Pakistani firing” to maintain peace in Kashmir.
The valley has been simmering since July 2016, and the security agencies and the army say the situation has been exacerbated by continued strikes by cross-border terror outfits.
The Naushera sector in Rajouri, has seen major ceasefire violations all through May. In view of the heavy shelling, authorities had to evacuate villages and shut the schools.
Two civilians are reported to have died in Pakistani shelling around 10 May.
Expectedly, like in the case of the surgical strikes in September, the Pakistani Army has denied any such operation against its post by the Indian Army.
While in September, the Special Forces crossed the LoC to launch the operation, in the recent case the operation targeting Pakistani posts was carried out from the Indian side of the LoC.
Even in April, heavy retaliation from the Indian side to continued ceasefire violations had unnerved the Pakistani army generals.
The ghastly mutilation of two Indians soldiers by Pakistani Border Action Team (BAT), in the Krishnaghati sector, not far away from Nowshera, as some reports indicated, may have been ordered by the Rawalpindi GHQ top brass under pressure from local commanders.
First published: 23 May 2017, 18:10 IST