Indian Army rejects Pakistan military's claim of killing 4 soldiers

ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: The Indian Army today rejected Pakistan military's claim of killing four Indian soldiers during cross-border firing yesterday, saying it had not suffered any casualties this month.

" Pakistan Army has been violating the ceasefire on a regular basis. It has deliberately targeted civilian areas during these across the Line of Control firing incidents," an Indian Army spokesperson said in New Delhi.

The Indian Army has not suffered any casualty in the month of July in these unprovoked ceasefire violations, the Army spokesperson said.

"As a mature and accountable institution, the Indian Army keeps the public informed of casualties suffered through an established and transparent system.

In case of occurrence of fatal casualties, tribute is paid to the soldier through the official Twitter handle and Facebook page. State funeral is also organised as a mark of respect," the official said.

The Indian Army, however, said in one such incident of specific targeting by unprovoked shelling of civilian areas by Pakistan on Saturday, Havildar Md Shaukat, a serving soldier, and his wife died while he was at his home during leave.

The Indian Army response came after the Pakistani military claimed that it had killed four Indian soldiers and destroyed two Indian checkposts being used to target civilians.

The Pakistan Army claimed that its firing came in response to alleged "unprovoked firing" by India yesterday, "targeting innocent civilians".

It claimed that the Indian firing resulted in the death of five of its citizens.

The Pakistan Army also released a video dated July 9 to substantiate its claim.

"Pakistan Army befittingly responded on July 9, causing substantial losses to men and material. Two Indian Army posts firing on innocent civilians have been destroyed. Four Indian soldiers killed," Army Spokesman Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor tweeted, while sharing the video.

The Pakistan Army will continue to protect civilians from "unprovoked Indian aggression" at all costs, he said.