NEW DELHI: In escalating tension along the Line of Control, which has witnessed over 1,600 ceasefire violations already this year, the Indian Army on Saturday said it had “successfully foiled” a BAT (border action team) operation by the Pakistan army in J&K’s Keran sector. “Five to seven terrorists or Special Services Group (SSG) commandos from the Pakistan army were killed in the unsuccessful BAT operation that began on the night of July 31,” a senior Army officer said.Meanwhile, the Indian Army rejected Pakistan’s claims that India had used cluster bombs in retaliatory cross-border firings and targeted civilians. The Pakistan army claims placed the incident to the intervening night of July 30-31 — the same time when the Indian Army said it had thwarted the attempted infiltration along the LoC.Speaking about the infiltration attempt, the senior Indian Army officer said: “Four bodies have been seen lying on our side of the LoC, in close proximity to our posts, but there is continuing cross-border firing in the sector.” Pakistan’s attempts to push terrorists across the LoC and evidence of plans to attack the Amarnath yatra caused disturbances in the Valley and were the reasons for the recent paramilitary build-up in the last one week, according to the Army.The Army said Pakistan is “desperately trying to push terrorists from Jaish-e-Muhammed and other tanzims” across the LoC for the last 36-48 hours. “Intelligence reports assess there are 200-250 terrorists present on launchpads along the LoC ready to infiltrate into J&K by taking advantage of the prevailing fog conditions as well as covering fire by the Pakistani army ,” said the officer.“The Pakistan Army regularly attempts to push terrorists through infiltrations and opens up with multitude of weapons to assist them. During numerous DGMO (Directorate General of Military Operations) level hotline talks, India has maintained the right to respond. Such responses are only against military targets and infiltrating terrorists who are aided by Pakistan Army. Allegations of firing of cluster bombs by India are yet another instance of Pakistani lies, deceit and deception tactics,” said the officer.In Islamabad, the ISPR claimed the alleged use of “cluster bombs” was a blatant Indian aggression against all international norms and “exposes the true character of the Indian Army”. The military’s media wing also shared images of civilians who allegedly sustained injuries.