india

Updated: Feb 16, 2018 22:46 IST

Pakistan’s army on Friday claimed it killed five Indian soldiers when it destroyed their post in Kashmir in retaliation to sniper fire that struck a school van, allegedly killing the driver.

Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor and other officials said the Indian post near Tatta Pani village was “destroyed” late Thursday after alleged sniper fire earlier in the day hit a school van carrying children in Pakistan’s part of Kashmir.

Ghafoor said Pakistan will always respond to “Indian terrorism against innocent citizens.”

In a tweet, Ghaffor late on Thursday shared a video clip purportedly showing bombing of the Indian Army post and smoke billowing from the site after it was hit by fire. An Indian Army official in New Delhi said the Pakistan Army’s claim is “baseless”. The army has also said there was no cease-fire violation from its side on Thursday.

Pakistan says gunfire hit a Pakistani school van days after India said gunmen belonging to the Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed were behind a weekend attack on an army camp in Kashmir. In that Saturday attack, militants stormed the Sunjuwan army camp and fought Indian troops, leaving six Indian soldiers and one civilian dead.

It prompted India to warn Pakistan that it “would pay for this misadventure.”

Pakistan condemned the attack on the van and urged the world community to take notice.

On Thursday, Pakistan summoned India’s Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh to condemn the “unprovoked firing” by Indian troops across the LoC which allegedly resulted in the death of a driver of a van carrying school children.

Militants escape

Militants, who were surrounded by police personnel in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, escaped after a brief shoot-out, police said.

The gunfight between security forces and the militants started early morning.

“Operation was launched after we got information about their presence in the area. The militants, however, fired indiscriminately and managed to escape taking advantage of darkness,” a police spokesperson said.