READ ALSO:

Pakistan deliberately targeted civilian areas, BSF says

A boy injured in border firing is brought to a Jammu hospital.

Girls look out from a window as they take shelter at a relief camp in Salehar village near Jammu.

NEW DELHI: India's tough stance on the border and heavy retaliation to Pakistan's ceasefire violations is not new-found aggression. It is a feature that has continued since June and was visible in the heavy casualties India inflicted on Pakistan in the July-August offensive. The October operation is only a heightened expression of it.Through 2014, 13 Indians have been killed by Pakistani fire during ceasefire violations. Of this, only one was a soldier. On the Pakistani side, however, there have been close to 25 casualties which include three soldiers and two LeT terrorists due to Indian retaliation.In 2013, as many as 12 Indian soldiers had died in a combination of cross-border firing and Pakistan BAT (Border Action Team) operation while one civilian was reported killed. On the other side, according to Pakistani media reports that quoted documents presented to the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, there were nine military casualties and six civilian deaths.Even during the August 2014 offensive, Indian forces mounted greater firepower as compared to their approach during a similar offensive in August 2013. The result was that as many as eight people, including soldiers, LeT terrorists and civilians, were killed in Pakistan and over two dozen injured in the firings that began on August 16 this year. On the Indian side, however, there were only two casualties — of civilians. All these incidents took place on the International Border in Jammu guarded by BSF."We are thrice in strength of Pakistan Rangers and thus have as many weapons. This has resulted in heavy casualties on the other side even though Pakistan Rangers are being supported by their army. We will continue to retaliate fiercely until Pakistan stops firing," said a senior BSF officer.However, the tragedy of the offensive is that increasingly, civilians are getting killed on both sides. In the latest offensive, 23 civilians have lost their lives on both sides of the border while not a single soldier has been killed. "Innocent civilians are paying the price for two big forces fighting. They are dying for being at the wrong place. Just for their sake, this firing should stop as soon as possible," said a BSF officer.