Pakistan violates ceasefire again, shells Poonch in J&K

Jammu: Pakistan on Saturday violated ceasefire again by targeting the Poonch sector in Jammu and Kashmir with automatic weapon fire.

The violation comes just days after two Indian jawans were killed in a cross-border fire in the same area.

The Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing from small arms, automatic weapons and mortars?from 1130 hours on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Poonch sector,?a Defence spokesman said.

The Indian troops returned the fire strongly and effectively, he?said adding that the firing stopped at 1410 hours.

Earlier on Thursday, in the third such attack this year, a team of Pakistani special forces sneaked 600 metres across the LoC into the Poonch sector and killed two Indian jawans and lost one Border Action Team (BAT) member in retaliatory action.

The BAT comprises special forces personnel of the Pakistan army and terrorists.

It had carried out the attack at around 2 PM on an Army patrol party in the Gulpur belt of Poonch on 22 June under heavy cover fire by Pakistani troops.

In the firefight, two Indian soldiers - 34-year-old Naik Jadhav Sandip of Aurangabad and?24-year-old Sepoy Mane Savan Balku of Kolhapur - were martyred.

The Pakistani Border Action Team (BAT) members were armed with 'special daggers' and 'headband cameras' to mutilate and record the attack on the Indian Army patrol.

Earlier, on June 16, Pakistan violated the ceasefire by firing on?forward posts along the LoC in Naushera sector of Rajouri district of?J&K, killing an Indian Army jawan.

There have been 19 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the international border in Jammu region in June in which one civilian was killed and seven others injured.

(With PTI inputs)