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| Ceasefire breached twice in week, Pak denies | | Rajouri, Poonch villagers spot ultra | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | May 14
While the security concerns thrown by infiltration in Samba sector are still fresh that there are reports of breach of ceasefire agreement in north Kashmir frontiers where Pakistani troops are reported to have resorted to unprovoked firing on their Indian counterparts. Pakistan has, however, vehemently denied any such incident.
Meanwhile, villagers from frontiers districts of Rajouri and Poonch have reported presence of militants who they believed have infiltrated recently. While reports from a Mendhar village said that some militants have crossed over the fence last night, many villagers in the interiors of Rajouri district said that they have spotted a presence of militants in huge numbers in Darhal area. Security agencies and official sources are yet to confirm any of these reports.
Adding to the security worries, for the second time in less than a week, Pakistani troops opened unprovoked firing on an Indian border post in Tangdhar region in North Kashmir but no casualty was reported. It was a major violation of the ceasefire on the Line of Control which has been in force since December 2003, Army sources said here.
The firing by the Pakistani troops from across the LoC comes close on the heels of Pakistani Rangers breaching the ceasefire on the international border in Samba sector earlier this week.
Using heavy machine guns and mortars, Pakistani troops targeted a forward Indian post in the Tangdhar area last evening. Within a span of 15 to 20 minutes, Pakistani troops fired on the Indian post over 50 to 60 rounds from heavy machine gun and also fired from heavy mortars, the sources said.
"This was not a cover firing for any attempt to push in terrorists. It was targeted straight at the forward Indian post," the sources said. About 8 to 10 mortar bombs fired at the post fell well short of it and there were no causalities.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has denied that its troops opened unprovoked firing on an Indian border post in Jammu and Kashmir for the second time in less than a week. In a statement, a spokesman of the Inter-Services Public Relations denied the "Indian claim of unprovoked firing by Pakistani troops on the LoC in Neelam valley".
"Indian military authorities have been informed that no incident of firing from (the Pakistani) side of the LoC took place as claimed," the spokesman said. The firing last night by the Pakistani troops on the Indian border post in Tangdhar region in North Kashmir came close on the heels of Pakistani Rangers breaching the ceasefire on the international border in Samba sector earlier this week.
The two fresh incidents of firing have occurred days ahead of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Pakistan on May 21 to review the last round of the composite dialogue process. |
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