An Indian soldier was killed in Pakistani sniper fire in Machhil sector in Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Wednesday, taking the army casualty here to three in the last 24 hours.
The Indian Army retaliated by targeting Pakistan posts with heavy weapons.
“One soldier was martyred in Pakistan sniping at Machhil sector today,” a defence spokesperson said in Srinagar.
On Tuesday, two soldiers were killed in Naushera in Rajouri district after their vehicle was hit by mortar from across the Line of Control. While one of the soldiers was killed on the spot, the other succumbed to his injuries late on Tuesday.
Read | Another army jawan killed in Pak shelling in Naushera sector
The two soldiers — a driver and co-driver — belonged to the 54 Rashtriya Rifles. One was from Benar district of Rajasthan and the other from Balia district of Uttar Pradesh. Five other soldiers in the rear of the vehicle escaped with minor injuries, said an army source.
Source said following the death of the two soldiers, the Indian Army mounted a massive attack and destroyed three Pakistani posts. A senior army officer said at least four Pak soldiers were also believed to have been killed in retaliatory fire.
{{/usCountry}}Source said following the death of the two soldiers, the Indian Army mounted a massive attack and destroyed three Pakistani posts. A senior army officer said at least four Pak soldiers were also believed to have been killed in retaliatory fire.
{{/usCountry}}Eleven troopers of the army and the Border Security Force have been killed in Pakistani firing since India’s surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the LoC.
In a separate incident on Wednesday, two militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in a village in Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, police said. The militants, believed to be foreigners, engaged the security forces during a search operation.
The government says Pakistan has violated ceasefire about a hundred times and targeted Indian posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir since the Indian Army’s surgical strikes in late September.
Pakistan denies the charges and insists that it is India that has been violating the ceasefire.
The state government had closed down over 400 schools along the international border and the LoC in the Jammu region in the wake of the ongoing heavy cross-border firing.
A total of 20 people, including 12 civilians, have been killed and more than 83 have been injured in Pakistani shelling and firing along the border and LoC in Jammu region.
Ties between India and Pakistan have been extremely tense since a terror attack on an army camp in Uri near the LoC in Kashmir killed 19 soldiers in September, leading to India’s retaliatory surgical strike.
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