To avenge beheading, Indian Army pounds Pakistan posts in 5 sectors

NEW DELHI: The Indian Army inflicted "significant damage" on Pakistan army posts and forward locations by conducting "punitive" fire assaults across the LoC throughout Wednesday to exact revenge for the beheading of one of its soldiers in the Macchil sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

The ferocity of the fire assaults, which saw 15 to 16 Pakistan army posts being targeted with heavy-calibre weapons in five sectors spread along the line of control, was such that the Pakistan DGMO was forced to call his Indian counterpart, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, over the hotline for "unscheduled talks" at 6.30pm.

Talking exclusively to TOI, Northern Army Command chief Lt Gen D S Hooda said the onus was entirely on Pakistan army to de-escalate tension by turning off the terror tap. "We want calm along the LoC but it cannot be a one-way street. Pakistan Army must check the stream of vicious terrorism flowing across the border from its soil. If it does so, things will then automatically improve," he said. Though Pakistan claimed seven Indian soldiers had also died in its retaliatory firing, officials here denied "any fatal casualty" on the Indian side.

Pakistan complains of 4 civilian deaths in Indian firing
The fire assaults, with 120mm heavy mortars and anti-tank guided missiles as well as artillery and air defence guns in "a direct firing mode" from different locations, targeted 15-16 posts of the Pakistan army with destructive precision.

The Pakistan DGMO complained of four civilian casualties in the Indian firing, in which at least one Pakistan army officer and four soldiers were also killed, but Lt Gen Singh firmly replied that Indian troops had only targeted locations from where ceasefire violations had been initiated.

While expressing grief at the civilian casualties, Lt Gen Singh stressed the continuing infiltration attempts by terrorists into J&K and the "unethical mutilation" of the Indian soldier's body by terrorists, actively backed by the Pakistan army, would not be tolerated. "The Pak DGMO was told to exercise strict control on his troops to ensure they refrain from nefarious activities," said an officer.

The exchange of cross-border firing is the most intense since India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire along the 198-km international border (IB) in J&K, the 778-km LoC and the 110-km actual ground position line in Siachen as a major confidence-building measure in November 2003. The latest round began around 9 am on Wednesday, with India using heavy-calibre weapons to set the LoC virtually ablaze. This came less than 24 hours after the Army had vowed "heavy retribution" for the "cowardly mutilation" of the soldier's body in the Macchil sector.