New Delhi: The Indian Army killed 138 Pakistan Army personnel in 2017 in tactical operations and retaliatory cross-border firings along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, government intelligence sources said on Wednesday. The Indian Army lost 28 soldiers during the same period along the LoC, the sources said.

The sources said the Pakistan Army usually does not acknowledge the deaths of its personnel and shows them as civilian casualties in certain cases.

The Indian Army has been adopting a “tough" approach in dealing with ceasefire violations and terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir in the last one year. The Pakistan Army has suffered 138 fatal and 155 non- fatal casualties in tactical operations and retaliatory cross-border firings along the LoC in 2017, the intelligence sources told PTI.

A total of 70 Indian Army personnel were injured during cross border firings and other incidents. Asked about the fatalities on the Pakistani side, the Army refused to comment.

However, Army spokesperson Col Aman Anand said India has been effectively retaliating against all ceasefire violations by the Pakistan Army and will continue to do so.

According to official figures, 860 incidents of ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops were reported in 2017 as against 221 last year. It seems the Pakistan Army has a policy of not acknowledging the killing of its personnel, the sources said. They also referred to the Kargil war when Pakistan had declined to accept casualties despite proof given by India.

The sources also cited an incident on 25 December when a group of five Army commandos crossed the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir and killed three Pakistani soldiers.

The Pakistan Army had posted a tweet that day acknowledging the deaths but later deleted it. The Pakistan Army’s spokesperson two days later rejected reports that Indian commandos selectively targeted a post across the LoC and killed three of its soldiers.

The intelligence sources said Indian Army killed 27 Pakistani soldiers in sniper firing last year while seven of its soldiers lost their lives in Pakistani sniper firing along the LoC.

As part of its policy of “hot pursuit", the Indian Army has been carrying out tactical operations to foil Pakistan Army’s support to terrorists.

In May last year, the Indian Army had said it launched “punitive fire assaults" on Pakistani positions across the LoC, inflicting “some damage", days after two Indian Army personnel were beheaded.

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