Continuing with his annual tradition of celebrating Diwali with soldiers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday arrived in Kargil.
The Foreign Office on Monday summoned the Indian Charge d'Affaires (Cd'A) in Islamabad to lodge a protest over the alleged killing of a Pakistani citizen, who had infiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir to attack an army post.
Aware of simmering dissensions within the top echelons of the army, Munir has moved slowly in reshuffling senior generals, observes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W, India's external intelligence agency.
A general court martial (GCM) instituted by the Indian Air Force has ordered the sacking of a group captain for the crash of an Mi-17 V5 helicopter in Budgam in Jammu and Kashmir after it was hit by a missile on February 27, 2019, official sources said on Tuesday.
This is fourth consecutive day of firing and shelling by the Pakistan army.
Indian Army retaliated befittingly to the unprovoked ceasefire violations.
This was the fourth fatal casualty in ceasefire violations by Pakistan in the past five days. "A JCO was killed in unprovoked Pakistani firing and shelling in Nowshera sector of Rajouri," the officials said, adding that further details were awaited.
A terrorist was killed and another was most likely injured on Saturday in an ongoing operation in the densely forested area of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir, Army said.
Pakistan violated the ceasefire for the third consecutive day on Monday by firing small arms on forward posts and four hamlets in Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district.
The Pakistani terrorists made the abortive attempt to sneak into the Kalal area of Nowshera from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on May 28 but were killed in the subsequent counter-infiltration operation, the officials said.
Pakistan troops also fired on forward posts and civilian areas last night in Rajouri.
An officer and a jawan of the army were killed in a mysterious blast near a forward post along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, officials said.
On August 30, a JCO was killed in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district.
"Our armed forces represent India's diversity and the collective spirit of 130 crore Indians. Our forces are not only known for their utmost professionalism but also they are at the forefront helping people in times of crisis. Our forces are synonymous with trust," Modi said.
The unprovoked firing from across the border took place in the Nowshera and Sunderbani sectors in Rajouri district and the Krishna Ghati sector in Poonch district.
The killing of Naik Rajib Thapa, 34, raised the death toll in the cross-border firing in the past week to four -- three soldiers and one civilian.
Pakistan has been resorting to heavy mortar shelling along LoC in Jammu and Kashmir for the past over one month.
The COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020 and the subsequent restrictions due to the virus spread had cast a grim shadow on the festive mood of all the festivals across the country for the past two years.
A Muslim cleric in northwest Pakistan has been arrested under the tough anti-terrorism act for threatening to kill Malala Yousafzai in a suicide attack and instigating people against the Nobel Laureate for her recent comments on marriage, police said.
The number of terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir during a period of 841 days after Article 370 was revoked dipped to 496 from the 843 cases reported in a same span of time prior to the abrogation, the government informed Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
A Border Security Force jawan and a woman were injured and two houses damaged on Saturday when Pakistani troops targeted Indian posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Nowshera and Sunderbani sectors of Rajouri district with mortar bombs and small arms fire, prompting the army to give a "befitting response".
Over 5,000 people living in 23 hamlets along the LoC were forced to shun homes.
"The Pakistani Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars from 0715 hours along the Line of Control (LoC) in Nowshera sector", PRO, ministry of defence, Jammu, Lt Col Manish Mehta said. The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively, he said, adding that the firing is currently going on.
"Pakistani Rangers fired few bullets warning troops working ahead of the fence in Arnia area in Jammu. Our troops retaliated with few rounds of fire this morning", a senior BSF officer said. "They also fired mortar shells. Some exchange of mortar shells also took place", he said.
The shelling hit a village in Laam belt of Nowshera sector, killing Akhtar Bi and injuring her husband Mohmmad Hanief.
The intense shelling from across the border also prompted the authorities to suspend class work in nearly half a dozen government-run schools falling within the firing range in Poonch district.
After initial 'zero infiltration' in the wake of renewed ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan in February, fresh attempts are on to push terrorists from across the border where 250 to 300 terrorists are trained and waiting on the launch pads, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbag Singh said on Tuesday.
There was no report of any casualty in the latest ceasefire violation which came a day after a personnel of the Indian Army was killed and three others including two women were injured in separate ceasefire violations by Pakistan in Rajouri and Poonch districts.
In a tweet, Pakistani military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said, "Repetitions don't make truth of a lie. Despite claiming possession of evidence on shooting F16, IAF still short of presenting it."
The firing from across the border started soon after the army noticed some suspicious movement along the LoC in Nowshera sector, the sources said.
Modi invoked the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata to assert that it is in Indian tradition to avoid war be it in Lanka or Kurukshetra and the country stands for world peace.
A defence spokesperson said the Indian Army retaliated 'effectively and strongly' to the ceasefire violation in Keran sector in Kupwara district this afternoon, with precision targeting of gun areas, terrorist launchpads and ammunition dump across the LoC.
Palli panchayat, 17 km from Jammu city, was virtually sealed with local police and paramilitary personnel including Border Security Force and Central Reserve Police Force deployed in strength to keep a strict vigil.
The field intelligence units of the Army coupled with inputs comprising HUMINT (human intelligence) and TECHINT (technical intelligence) indicate that around 300 terrorists, mainly of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT), are waiting across the border to sneak in, officials said, citing reports from Srinagar collated in the national capital.
The Indian Army retaliated effectively, injuring two Pakistani jawans, defence sources said.
The casualty comes barely a week after multiple ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the LoC in north Kashmir left 11 people, including five security personnel, dead on November 13.
Two terrorists carried out a 'fidayeen' attack on an Army camp in Jammu's Rajouri district in the early hours of Thursday, killing three soldiers.
A bomb blast ripped through a mosque within a Sufi shrine at Nowshera in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least 10 persons and injuring 30 others. The powerful blast targeted the mosque inside Akhun Punjo Baba mazar (shrine) in Akbarpura area of Nowshera, nearly 15 km from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa capital Peshawar.Scores of people were offering Friday prayers at the mosque while hundreds had gathered to take food from a 'langar' or community kitchen.
Pakistan Army spokesman alleged that India on May 13 had 'targeted innocent civilians'.
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