Amid lockdown, army chief to visit Kashmir for security review

This will be the army chief’s first visit to a forward area after the lockdown was imposed to halt the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), he said, adding that the chief will be accompanied by minimum staff. He will return to Delhi on Friday.

Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane will visit Kashmir on Thursday for a security review, amid the national lockdown and an unusual spike in cease-fire violations by Pakistan army along the Line of Control, a senior officer said on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

The neighbouring army has carried out more ceasefire violations during January-March this year compared to the corresponding periods of the previous two years. (ANI)

This will be the army chief’s first visit to a forward area after the lockdown was imposed to halt the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), he said, adding that the chief will be accompanied by minimum staff. He will return to Delhi on Friday.

As reported by Hindustan Times on April 8, there has been an unusual spike in cease-fire violations by the Pakistan army on the LoC this year to help infiltrators sneak into Jammu and Kashmir compared to border violations in the previous years.

The neighbouring army has carried out more ceasefire violations during January-March this year compared to the corresponding periods of the previous two years.

Pakistan violated the ceasefire 1,144 times between January and March), with the highest number of violations (411) being recorded last month when Covid-19 cases started peaking globally. The Pakistan army violated the cease-fire 685 times in 2019 and 627 times in 2018 for the period January to March.

The fire assault was the Indian Army’s response to an unprovoked ceasefire violation by the neighbouring army.

Five commandos belonging to an elite army Special Forces (SF) unit were killed in action along the LoC in the same sector in Kashmir on April 5 during an intense close-quarters battle with an equal number of terrorist infiltrators who were all eliminated.