Pakistan violates ceasefire again, LoC tense

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi: The tension between India and Pakistan in the wake of killing of two Indian soldiers by the Pakistani troops has escalated after the Indian Army accused the hostile neighbouring country of violating the ceasefire again on Thursday. Reports, Friday, claimed that the Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire across the LoC and opened indiscriminate firing at the Indian posts in the Poonch and Mendhar sector in Jammu and Kashmir. According to the Army sources, the exchange of fire between the two sides lasted for almost two hours. Pakistan, later, claimed that one of its soldiers ‘Hawaldar Mohyuddin’ was killed in cross-border firing and accused the Indian side of provocation, which was categorically rejected by Army Headquarters here. The Army, meanwhile, said that the Pakistani troops` firing started in the Battal area in Poonch sector at 1630 hours after which Indian troops gave a measured response. The firing took place in the area guarded by the 13 Rajputana Rifles, whose two soldiers Lance Naiks Sudhakar Singh and Hemraj were killed and their bodies were mutilated by Pakistani troops, it said. New Delhi also rejected Pakistan`s allegations that its Army transgressed the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector on Sunday. The Army is also planning to seek a flag meeting between the formation commanders of India and Pakistan deployed along the Poonch sector of Line of Control today. The tension between the two sides aggravated after the brutal killing and beheading of two Indian soldiers by the Pakistan troops. The Indian government yesterday rejected Islamabad`s call for a UN probe into the alleged killing of Indian soldiers by its troops. Amid tensions on the LoC, Pakistani authorities also reportedly stopped Indian trucks from Jammu and Kashmir from entering Pakistan while international community urged the two sides to settle the dispute amicably. The US said urged India and Pakistan to resolve their latest row through dialogue. In Islamabad, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar reiterated the demand for a third party enquiry into the violations on the LoC ceasefire that has largely held on since 2003. Responding to it, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon said ceasefire violations by Pakistan on the LoC had shot up last year. (With Agency inputs)