Army denies raid across LoC
Srinagar, January 6
The Army on Sunday denied having conducted a raid across the Line of Control (LoC) in the Uri sector of North Kashmir, amid reports the armies exchanged heavy fire for almost five hours.
The Army blamed Pakistani troops for violating the ceasefire in Churanda village of Haji Pir sector, which was aimed at pushing militants into the
Indian side.
“The Pakistan army posts opened unprovoked heavy machinegun and mortar fire on the Indian posts in the Uri sector to infiltrate terrorists. The Indian Army gave a calibrated response and foiled their attempt to sneak through. The firing which started at 3 am continued till 8 am. Houses of some civilians were damaged due to the firing by the Pakistani troupes. There has been no cross-border movement by Indian troops,” a spokesman of the Ministry of Defence, Northern Command, Lt Col Rajesh Kalia said.
The Pakistan army had earlier in the day announced that one of its soldiers was killed and another injured in Haji Pir sector when the Indian troops crossed the LoC, and raided a Pakistani check post. Pakistani Army had claimed that its troops repulsed the attack.
The General-Officer-Commanding (GOC), 19 Infantry Division, Major General VG Khandare, said Pakistani firing was unprovoked. “They used heavy machineguns and fired 82-mm mortar shells and a shell hit a house in Churanda which was damaged,” Khandare said. "The Pakistani firing was unprovoked," he added.
The General said they have communicated to the Pakistan Army that such violations were not acceptable. “But so far we have not got any response from them,” he said.
The Indian and Pakistani troops have been exchanging fire in Churanda village over past two months, which is only 120 meters away from the LoC.
The first major ceasefire violation in Churanda village took place on October 16, when three civilians, Mohammad Shafi, 30, Liayaqat, 17, and a girl Shanhwaz were killed when Pakistani troops opened fire on the village.
Since the first ceasefire violation, the two Armies have been regularly exchanging fire. The Pakistani Army has been accusing India of constructing new bunkers in the village, an allegation denied by the Indian Army.The real issue
In fact, a flag meeting was later held on November 22 between the two sides in Uri and the both sides had agreed to hold the ceasefire that has been in place since 2003.
Before the ceasefire on the LoC, Uri was the one the worst-affected sectors in the cross-border shelling. Heavy shelling had forced residents to migrate to safer places. In the Uri sector alone, more than 50 civilians had lost their lives and dozens were injured in the cross-border shelling since 1990, besides, hundreds of residential houses were also razed to the ground. After 2003, the entire Uri sector has been calm, even though the militants sometimes tried to cross over the LoC after scaling or cutting the barbed wire fencing.
LoC is well defined and I am sure if pakis have occupied our post then that would be a matter of grave concern and will be dealt with same urgency and seriousness.
