News
Monday, January 07, 2013
Pakistani soldier killed in Line of Control gun battle* ISPR says Indian troops crossed border in Haji Pir Sector, physically raided Sawan Patra checkpost
* Pakistan retaliation makes Indian troops retreat, leaving behind gun, dagger
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani and Indian troops exchanged fire on Sunday along their disputed border in divided Kashmir, with each side blaming the other for the flare-up and Pakistan saying one of its soldiers was killed.
Pakistan said Indian troops crossed the Line of Control and stormed a military post, an accusation denied by the other side. A Pakistani military statement said the Indian troops came across the frontier in the Haji Pir sector, 80 kilometres north of Islamabad, and “physically raided” a checkpost named Sawan Patra. “Pakistan Army troops effectively responded to the attack successfully. One Pakistani soldier embraced martyrdom while another was critically injured,” it said in a statement.
The Indian troops retreated, leaving behind a gun and a dagger, it said. An Indian army spokesman in Srinagar denied its troops crossed the border. Colonel Brijesh Pandey accused the Pakistani military of firing mortar bombs into a village in the Uri district in Indian-held Kashmir, which faces Haji Pir on the Pakistani side of the territory. “At 3:15 am today (2145 GMT Saturday) Pakistani troops resorted to heavy mortar firing, targeting a village in Uri sector,” Pandey told AFP, adding that the homes of some villagers were damaged.
“We retaliated with small arms and the exchange continued for over an hour,” the spokesman said. He said no Indian troops were hurt but had no information about any Pakistani casualties. Another spokesman for the Indian army said its post at Churuda, 100 km northwest of Srinagar, came under “unprovoked” heavy mortar and automatic gun fire for about five hours early on Sunday. “We did retaliate,” Colonel Rajesh Kalia said. There were more than 75 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control in 2012, killing eight people. Most of the violations were exchanges of fire between the two sides
Last month officials in Azad Kashmir said cross-border fire from Indian troops killed a man and wounded three other civilians in two villages. According to an official Indian report cited by the Press Trust of India, there were 71 firing incidents along the Line of Control in 2012 in which four Indian soldiers, two Indian civilians and one alleged Pakistani infiltrator were killed.
Fifteen others were injured, according to the report from the IHK Home Ministry. The latest clash occurred as the two countries wrapped up their first bilateral cricket series for five years. Cricket has been used in the past to mend ties, but analysts have said the prospect of a diplomatic dividend this time appeared slim. agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk