Two soldiers killed as Pakistan resorts to unprovoked firing along LoC

At least two soldiers got killed on Monday evening as Pakistan resorted to unprovoked firing along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. The two soldiers – Vinod Singh and Jaki Sharma – suffered injuries during the firing and later succumbed to their injuries.

According to reports, Pakistani Army resorted to indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars, to which India retaliated strongly. The firing began in the Sunderbani sector along the LoC on Monday evening and continued till last reports came in.

Vinod Singh, aged 20 years, hailed from Akhnoor district while Jaki Sharma was from Jammu district in Jammu and Kashmir.

Last week, Pakistan had targeted forward Indian posts along the LoC in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistani troops have violated the ceasefire along the LoC and the IB over 650 times this year.

Pakistan has repeatedly violated ceasefire in the state and in 2018 alone, there have been more than 650 such instances of firing or shelling from across the LoC. While the Indian Army ensures a befitting reply is given each time, civilians have borne the brunt of the collateral damage. Concerned over this, state-owned NBCC recently gave the go-ahead to construct protective bunkers for civilians.

It is expected that the number of civilian casualties can be brought down significantly by constructing bunkers - an urgent requirement considering the figures of 2017. According to some non-governmental reports, over 55 civilian deaths - either due to cross-border terrorism or cross-border shelling - occurred in J&K in 2017 alone.