New Delhi, Sep 29: In what appears to be a precautionary move, villages in the Indian side of Punjab, situated along the border, have reportedly been evacuated by the Indian army. The decision was taken in the wake of knee-jerk reaction shown by Pakistan in response to the targeting of terror launch pads in PoK by the Indian army. Rejecting the claims of surgical strike, the Pakistani army alleged that India violated the ceasefire and ended up killing two personnel of the Pakistani Rangers. The Inter-State Public Relations, along with the Pakistani Air Force have warned India that such attempts of cross-border attack would be stiffly retaliated. Also Read - Ladakh Standoff: 13 Hours of Marathon Talks Between India, China Fail to Bring Any Breakthrough, Claim Reports

As per NDTV, the decision was taken by the army to evacuate the villages in Punjab near the international border was taken on Thursday. Aaj Tak has cited sources near to Home Minister Rajnath Singh that all villages falling under the radius of 10 km with the Pakistani border will be evacuated. However, there is no official indication been made of Pakistan launching a counter-attack against India. The evacuation of villages is considered to be strictly precautionary in nature. Defence analysts claim that the evacuation was necessary as the bilateral friction between India and Pakistan has reached a whole new level, with Pakistan openly accusing India of attacking its soldiers. On the other hand, Indian DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh clearly mentioned that the surgical strikes were conducted to cause minimum collateral damage, and target only the terrorists across the Line of Control (LoC). Also Read - International Flights: Now Indians Can Fly to Japan, UK, Canada And 10 Other Countries | Who is Allowed & Who is Not? Read Detailed SOPs

FLASH: Villages in Punjab which are 10KM from International Border with Pakistan are being evacuated, additional BSF troops move in Also Read - India's COVID-19 Tally Nears 55 Lakh-mark, Deaths Stand at 87,882 | Key Points — ANI (@ANI_news) September 29, 2016

Army sources have confirmed that 7 terror pads were attacked in LoC, located near 3 km away from the border. Although DGMO claimed that casualties were caused, no number of killed militants have been released. On the other hand, Pakistani military claims that 2 of its soldiers were killed , and 9 were critically injured. (ALSO READ: Indian army carries out ‘surgical strikes’ on terror camps across LoC)

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has strictly condemned the military operation of India, calling it a blatant provocation. Warning India, he said that the Pakistani army would not exercise restraint if this gets repeated. “We condemn this attack, our desire for peace should not be interpreted as our weakness,” Nawaz Sharif said. (ALSO READ: ‘Don’t mistake silence for weakness’: Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif condemns surgical strikes by Indian Army along LoC)

Indian defence establishment has appreciated the courageous decision taken by Indian army to launch cross-border surgical strikes. “This is a loud and clear message to Pakistan, that they will pay cost of carrying out terrorism in our nation,” said former DGMO Vinod Bhatia.

Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu lauded the efforts of the army in carrying out the operation. He further attributed the decision to the strong leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has given the army the mandate to take all steps to foil infiltration bids in India. “After the Uri terror attack, people of India were outraged. PM has reassured nation that such acts will not be tolerated. PM Modi said that befitting measures will be taken to ensure the safety and security of the country. Country is safe in hands of PM Modi & Army, that’s why people in diff parts of world are appreciating steps taken to counter terror,” he said.