Pakistan breaches LoC again, no loss

JAMMU: After a lull of less than 24 hours, Pakistan violated the ceasefire again as its troops targeted forward posts and villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district for the second successive day on Sunday.
A day earlier, the Indian Army had hit a Pakistani post opposite Rajouri after unprovoked shelling from across the border had resulted in the death of an Indian soldier. Shelling in the sector had subsided on Friday evening.
The mortar shelling and small arms firing from across the border in Kalal area of Nowshera sector started at around 6.45 pm, prompting strong and effective retaliation by the Indian army, a defence spokesman said.
Ceasefire violations by Pakistan also took place in other parts of Jammu and Kashmir even though there were no casualties on Saturday till reports last came in.
He said there was no immediate report of any casualty and the cross-border shelling was going on when last reports were received.
Defence sources said the Indian Army is retaliating befittingly even as shelling continued till late in the evening.
"Ceasefire was also violated along the LoC on the Keri Battal area of Sundarbani sector of Jammu district. Heavy firing was reported and Indian Army was giving a befitting reply to the unprovoked shelling," said an Army official.
Fresh ceasefire violation was reported along the LoC in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district too.
Army sources said increase in shelling through ceasefire violations could be part of Pakistan's efforts to sneak in militants into Jammu and Kashmir.
Ceasefire violations have witnessed a spike after a sudden dip in the first two weeks of August. The number of ceasefire violations along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir had been the highest in July so far this year.
Lance Naik Sandeep Thapa (35), a resident of Dehradun, was killed when Pakistani troops violated ceasefire on Saturday.
The Pakistan army also suffered heavy damage to their posts and casualties in the retaliatory action.
The latest skirmish comes days after Pakistan claimed that its four soldiers were killed in firing by Indian troops on their posts along the LoC on August 15.