New Delhi: The Line of Control that has been mostly silent since April, after intense ceasefire violations in March following the IAF strike in Balakot, is active again with heavy shelling and infiltration attempts from the Pakistani side.
Sources in the defence and security establishment said the Pakistani Army has intensified its transgressions at the border following the meeting between its Prime Minister Imran Khan and US President Donald Trump last week.
The meeting with Trump and his raising of the Kashmir issue is seen as a victory in Pakistan and the idea is to make sure that Kashmir simmers, sources said. They added that while there were severe ceasefire violations by Pakistan until April following the Balakot strike, it had become negligible since then.
“The peace has, however, been shattered in the last few days,” a senior source in the Army told ThePrint. “Pakistan has been using heavy calibre weapons to target the Indian side, especially civilians. We have responded in the same vein and have targeted Pakistani Army posts causing severe damage.”
The source further said that reliable intelligence inputs have pointed to a large number of terrorists being back at the launchpads for attempts to infiltrate into the Indian side. According to the source, there would be a bid to disrupt the possibility of elections in Jammu and Kashmir since peaceful polls would be seen globally as a testament of things getting better in the state.
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Slew of violations
There has been a slew of infiltration attempts over the past 10 days.
The Army foiled one such attempt at the Machhil sector last week. The encounter led to the death of a jawan.
On Tuesday, three terrorists were killed in the Gurez sector while attempting to move in from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir with arms and ammunition. The Pakistani Army had opened fire to assist the infiltrators.
“There has been heavy ceasefire violations by Pakistan in a number of sectors that the Indian Army has responded to,” another source in the Army said.
While India lost another soldier Tuesday, the Pakistan Army is said to have suffered at least two casualties. The ceasefire violations continued at night too. At about 12.30 am, Pakistani Army indulged in ceasefire violations in the Nowshera sector.
The violations have occurred over the last week with increasing intensity.
Pakistan Monday summoned India’s Deputy High Commissioner and condemned the alleged “unprovoked ceasefire violations” by Indian troops across the Line of Control that resulted in the death a woman.
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