India strikes Pakistan with heavy firepower after civilians die in bombardment of Line of Control posts

It seems Pakistan is back to its sinister ways and peace is not on its agenda.



For some time now Pakistani Rangers have been shelling Indian positions in Jammu and Kashmir, and it escalated early on Saturday, continuing late into the evening when reports last came in.



Pakistani troopers targeted 22 border outposts, killing two civilians - a father and a son - and injuring six others.



in the line of fire: The latest ceasefire violations targeted Border Security Force (BSF) posts near the international border in Jammu district. In the picture, a resident of one of the villages that came under Pakistani attack shows a mortar shell

However, Pakistan once again got the taste of India's firepower, as Indian forces retaliated effectively, causing massive damage across the Line of Control.



This comes less than a week after India cancelled foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan.



The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government in Delhi has played hard ball with Pakistan, red-flagging the talks between the Pakistani envoy to India and Kashmiri separatists.

And there are clear indications that NDA government has the political will to give a fitting reply to Pakistan's misadventures.



Observers say it is not something that Pakistan can swallow easily.



'This is a fact that, of late, these ceasefire violations by Pakistan have increased. But let everybody be assured that both our Army & BSF, who are respectively guarding the LoC and the International Border,are fully vigilant,' said Defence Minister Arun Jaitley

Moreover, Pakistan is once again going through political turmoil as opposition leaders and their supporters there have been demanding resignation of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.



All of it, say analysts, seems to have acted as a catalyst to ceasefire violations.

The latest ceasefire violations, which began after midnight, targeted Border Security Force (BSF) posts near the international border in Jammu district.



A BSF official, who did not want to be identified, said the Pakistan Rangers targeted 22 BSF posts in R S Pura and Arnia sectors.



Pakistani forces used small arms, heavy machine guns and 82mm mortars.

"They also used long range mortars. We gave a befitting reply to them and fired back using similar weapons, causing severe damage to them," he said.



Danger

The firing continued for over seven hours.



Thirteen villages were hit by the firing, which injured six persons, including four members of a family and a BSF trooper.



Nearly 3,000 people living in border hamlets close to the zero line were moved to safer places, said Ajit Kumar Sahu, the Deputy Commissioner of Jammu.



Sahu told Mail Today some 30 villages were affected by the ceasefire violations in R S Pura sector.



"Earlier also, ceasefire violations would take place in R S Pura sector but people would not move out. Today's killings, however, created a panic and forced people to move out to spend the night at shelters," he said.

Pakistan soldiers also violated the ceasefire twice along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district by firing with automatic and small arms in Hamirpur sub-sector.



BSF officials said the latest violations of the 2003 ceasefire between India and Pakistan marked the heaviest and most indiscriminate firing by the Pakistan Rangers along the border in Jammu region this year.



The Pakistan Rangers have targeted 40 border posts and over 20 villages during 16 ceasefire violations in the past 12 days, officials said.



Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Hari Om described the violations as an attempt by Pakistan to divert the attention of its people from the real issues confronting that country.



Speaking with reporters on the sidelines of a function in Vishakhapatnam to commission a warship, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said: "This is a fact that of late these ceasefire violations by Pakistan have increased. But let everybody be assured that both our Army and BSF, who are guarding the LoC and the international border, are fully vigilant".



"They effectively respond to each violation and… the country must have full faith that they are effectively protecting both our territory and national interest," he added.



Family grief

Randhir Singh, Superintendent of Police (Jammu headquarters), told Mail Today that Muhammad Akram and his seven-yearold son Aslam were killed and four members of Akram's family, including his wife, and a BSF constable were wounded in R S Pura sector at 1.44 am.



The causalities occurred when a Pakistani shell exploded near the home of Akram, who was hiding behind a wall along with his family.



Since 2003, when India and Pakistan agreed on the truce, people near the LoC have lived peacefully.

But frequent skirmishes between Indian and Pakistani troops this year have frightened the villagers.



They fear a return of the pre-ceasefire era, when both armies regularly used heavy artillery to target each other's positions.



Jammu Kashmir's Minister of State for Home Sajjad Ahmed Kichloo visited border hamlets and met the relatives of the dead.



He said the state government will take every step to ensure the safety and security of lives and property in the border areas.



National Conference leader Devender Singh Rana said he was anguished over the continued shelling from across the border and loss of life in Jammu region.



He sought the resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan to end border skirmishes.



Rana attributed the ceasefire violations to the recent cancellation of talks and said the fallout of hostilities was being felt in Jammu and Kashmir.

Interacting with the media in Jammu after meeting the injured in hospital, Rana, who is a confidant of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, said the National Conference stands for peace between India and Pakistan as the scars of border skirmishes are felt only in Jammu and Kashmir, and not in Islamabad or New Delhi.



In the crossfire: A villager looks out of a hut damaged in gunfire from Pakistan's side of the International Border at Jora village in Jammu

However, the BJP strongly reacted to the firing and accused Pakistan of testing the patience of the NDA government.



BJP leader Hari Om said Pakistan should stop violating the ceasefire as India could take strong action against it. BJP MP Jugal Kishore Sharma, who visited the border areas, said, "It is well known to the entire nation that unprovoked ceasefire violations have been continuously taking place by the Pakistan Army, which appears to be emboldened by the statements of the Pakistani envoy in Delhi."

Pakistan defiant

Pakistan rejected India's assertions about the ceasefire violations and suggested that an urgent meeting of the Directors General of Military Operations should be held to discuss the situation and to halt the firing.

"DGMOs of both countries should meet immediately to discuss ways and means to stop the current spate of firing along the working boundary and Pakistan is sending a proposal to India for the meeting," said Sartaj Aziz, the Adviser to the Pakistan Prime Minister on National Security.



Expressing concern at the firing by BSF personnel, Aziz said the issue was affecting bilateral ties and peace in the region.

