Amid standoff between India and China at LAC, Pakistan escalating tensions along 740 km long LoC

Indian Army standing guard in a state of high alert

Even as the standoff continues between India and China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, the situation along the 740 km long line of control with Pakistan also remains tense.

Since June 15, tensions in the region gradually spiralling up as Pakistan too has activated the entire stretch of the line of control from Uri to Nowshera sector and shelling several civilian areas using heavy calibre weapons.

The situation along the North Kashmir districts of Kupwara and Baramulla also remains tense for the last couple of days.

According to ground reports, “Pakistan army had deployed heavy calibre guns close to the line of control in Rajouri and Poonch sectors much earlier but after the standoff between India and China took an ugly turn on June 15, Pakistan army is deliberately attempting to escalate the tensions by targeting civilian areas and defence installations”.

In the last one week, the Pakistan army has upped the ante especially in areas south of Pir Panjal and in North Kashmir areas of Tangdhar and Uri sectors. Pakistan army is resorting to heavy shelling in Krishna Ghati, Balakote, Shahpur Kirni, Khari Karama, Nowshera and Mankote sectors.

Incidents of border firing have been reported along the International border with Pakistan in Jammu frontier as well.

On June 20, alert BSF jawans also shot down a drone carrying a payload of arms and ammunition for terrorist handlers along the International border in Kathua district.

In the month of June, over 150 incidents of ceasefire violations have been reported along the LoC, averaging 7-8 incidents of ceasefire violations per day.

Four Indian soldiers have also sacrificed their lives in the repeated incidents of ceasefire violations along the line of control in twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch.

Since January this year, more than 2050 incidents of ceasefire violations have been reported along the line of control with Pakistan.

On the other hand, four heavily armed infiltrators were also gunned down by the alert troops while foiling infiltration bids inside the Indian territory.

Early Monday morning, an army jawan, hailing from Nepal attained martyrdom in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district after receiving fatal injuries during unprovoked ceasefire violation by the Pakistan army along the line of control.

According to Defence PRO in Jammu, Lt Col Devender Anand, Havildar Dipak Karki hailing from Nepal succumbed to his fatal injuries received during ceasefire violation along the line of control in Nowshera sector.

During these recent border skirmishes, several civilian houses also suffered damages and livestock perished in heavy mortar shelling.

The situation along the North Kashmir districts of Kupwara and Baramulla also remains tense for the last couple of days.

The Pakistan army has also enhanced its striking capability as they are targeting civilian pockets located in the interior areas, triggering panic among the local population in the area.

A civilian woman was killed in one of the forward villages of Uri sector last week while over two dozen families were shifted from the forward area to safer places. Local villagers in the area claimed they had not seen heavy volume firing since the 1999 Kargil war in the area.

Local residents in the worst affected villages have been constantly demanding construction of individual bunkers to prevent loss of lives in repeated incidents of heavy mortar shelling.

Bunkers missing on ground zero?

On its part, the local administration has completed less than 50 per cent work on bunker construction in border areas of Rajouri and Poonch and along the International border with Samba, Kathua and Jammu.

According to the press statement issued by the Department of Information, “a total number of 6919 bunkers have been completed so far in the division, including 6123 individual bunkers and 796 community bunkers”. At present work on 9905 bunkers are under execution and are at different stages of construction.

According to official sources, “1430 bunkers including community and individual bunkers have been completed in district Samba, 1058 in district Jammu, 1324 in district Kathua, 2316 in district Rajouri and 791 in district Poonch“.
The union government had sanctioned 14460 bunkers for border areas of Jammu and Kashmir at a whopping cost of 415.73 crores in December 2017.

Indian troops on high alert

Meanwhile, alert troops of the Indian army are standing tall from North Kashmir areas of Uri and Tanghdhar to areas south of Pir Panjal in Rajouri and Poonch districts to thwart nefarious designs of the Pakistan army.

Indian army units, deployed in the forward areas, have been keeping a close watch on the possible movement of soldiers of the Pakistan army in their own territory to confirm reports of additional troops being deployed in the area.

The Pakistan army has also enhanced its striking capability as they are targeting civilian pockets located in the interior areas, triggering panic among the local population in the area.

Last week, several mortar shells landed in an open graveyard located in Khari Karama area of ward no 4 in Poonch forcing the local residents to claim Pakistan was not even sparing their loved ones resting in graves.

Desperate Pakistan army is also making efforts to push small groups of heavily armed infiltrators inside the Indian territory under the cover of heavy firing in the area.

Army sources claimed, Pakistan army was desperately trying to push infiltrators inside the Indian territory and targeted civilian areas and forward Indian posts to divert their attention.

Defence sources claimed, Pakistan army is desperate to send trained terrorists inside the Indian territory to keep the terror pot boiling.

Due to major success of the Operation ‘All-Out’ in Kashmir valley, at least 114 terrorists including top commanders of Lashkar-e- Toiba, Jaish-e- Mohammad, Hizbul Mujahideen and Ansar Ghazwatul Hind have been neutralised by the joint teams of security forces

A fresh assessment made by various central intelligence agencies and defence sources revealed small batches of heavily armed infiltrators have been camping in areas close to the line of control waiting for an opportunity to sneak inside the Indian territory. To foil nefarious designs of the Pakistan army, Indian troops have been kept in a state of high alert and constant monitoring of their activities is going on to prevent any sensational strike.

According to the latest assessment of the various Indian intelligence agencies, close to 250 terrorists were brought closer to different launch pads along the line of control before pushing them inside the Indian territory.

Note:
1. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.