india

Updated: Aug 04, 2019 20:40 IST

The Indian army on Sunday asked Pakistan to take back bodies of a Pakistani commando and terrorist killed in a firefight in Jammu and Kashmir’s Keran sector last week. Indian army sources said the Pakistani army has been asked to approach with a white flag and take over the bodies for last rites.

The Pakistan Army has denied the Indian claim about action by Pakistani army regulars and militants across the Line of Control and that their bodies were lying on the Indian side.

Pakistan Army spokesman Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor denied the Indian claim as “mere propaganda” and said that India was “trying to divert attention of the world form the situation of Kashmir.” Similarly, the Foreign Office also issued a statement to reject the claims by India.

“We reject Indian allegations of cross-LOC action by Pakistan and possession of bodies,” FO said.

The four militants were killed when a group of Pakistani soldiers and terrorists attacked an army border post along the Line of Control (LoC) in Keran sector. The commando is said to be a member of Pakistan’s Special Service Group.

The army suspects the attackers were part of Pakistan’s Border Action Team, or BAT, which has in the past carried out hit jobs near the border before returning to Pakistan, sometimes under the cover of firing from Pakistani posts.

Saturday’s disclosure by the army about the attack on the border post came on the heels of the government aborting the Amarnath pilgrimage in Kashmir over security threats. On Friday, the government asked pilgrims and tourists to leave the valley at the earliest.

Watch: India asks Pakistan to take back bodies of slain intruders

The central government has deployed additional forces over the past couple of weeks in Kashmir.

On Friday, Indian forces recovered mine with a Pakistani ordnance factory marking from one of the two routes leading to the famous cave shrine of Amarnath.

Indian forces had also seized an including an American sniper rifle and IEDs during a three-day intensive search operation to sanitize the Amarnath yatra routes after intelligence inputs that Pakistani army would target the pilgrimage.