Jammu: Pakistani troops opened heavy gunfire at 10 Indian posts along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir in a bid to push in terrorists into the state, army officials said on Sunday. The Pakistani firing began late Saturday in Krishna Ghati sector in the mountainous district of Poonch, about 250 km from Jammu, and lasted till Sunday morning.
"They used small arms, light machine guns and rockets. The firing was heavy up to 11 pm. Thereafter, it became intermittent and was going on till 7 am," an official said. Indian troops retaliated "to silence the Pakistani guns", he said.
The exchange of fire has stopped now. "Ours was a measured response aimed at preventing infiltration and silence Pakistani firing," an official said. The army said the motive of the firing was to give cover to a group of around 16 terrorists trying to cross the LoC to get into Jammu and Kashmir.
Though the army said it was an unsuccessful bid, an officer said they were searching the area to find if any infiltrator sneaked in. In another incident, a soldier on patrol near the Salotri post in Krishna Ghati sector was injured in a landmine blast on Saturday evening.
The army blamed it on a stray landmine but people in Mendhar town said that these landmines were planted by 'Pakistani agents' to inflict casualties on the Indian Army. "Never have Indian soldiers stepped over their own mines so frequently in this area. It suggests some mischief by forces in Pakistan," said Aijaz Kazmi, a journalist in Poonch.
Four such cases have happened since November 17 in which one army porter and three soldiers were injured. More than 50 cases of ceasefire violations have taken place this year. India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire on the frontiers in November 2003.
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