NL Correspondent
New Delhi, Oct 20
In a major counter-offensive after Pakistan's unprovoked firing, the Indian Army on Sunday carried out heavy artillery strikes targeting four terror launch pads and several Pakistani military positions in Neelam Valley in Pakistan-Occupied -Kashmir, killing six Pakistani soldiers and reportedly eliminating a sizeable number of terrorists, government sources said. The Indian retaliation came a day after Pakistan military resorted to unprovoked firing in Tangadhar sector along the Line of Control in which two Indian Army personnel and a civilian were killed. Three others were also injured in the attack, the sources said. They said the four terror launch pads in Neelam valley, opposite to the Tangdhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir have been totally smashed in the artillery fire by the Indian Army and that 10-15 terrorists were staying in each of the facilities at the time of the attack, the most significant offensive since India carried out the Balakot strike in February. A highly-placed source, meanwhile, said at least 20 terrorists were killed in the Indian artillery fire, adding the figure may be quite high.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat following the Indian offensive and he has been keeping an eye on the evolving situation along the LoC, government sources said. Spokesperson of Pakistan Military Major General Asif Ghafoor, in a series of tweets, said a total five Pakistani civilians were killed in the Indian strikes. “Targeting innocent civilians by Indian Army is an attempt to justify their false claims of targeting alleged camps,” Ghafoor alleged and also claimed that nine Indian soldiers killed and two Indian bunkers were destroyed by Pakistan Army. A senior Indian Army official rejected Ghafoor's allegations and claim. In a statement, the Indian Army said Pakistani Army initiated unprovoked cease fire violations to assist infiltration by terrorists into Indian territories in the Tangadhar sector last evening. “As a result calibrated escalation of area weapons was undertaken by the Indian side in which terrorist launch pads and several Pakistan Army posts giving incidental protection to these launch pads and certain gun positions were hit,” it said. It said Indian Army retains the right to respond at a time and place of its choosing in case Pakistan Army continues to assist terrorist activities across Indian borders. Sources said Pakistan has been trying to push terrorists into Kashmir to trigger unrest in the wake of India's decision to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcate the state into two Union Territories. Soon after government announced its decision to reorganise Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, the Army was put on high alert along the LoC to effectively repulse any possible Pakistani misadventure. The sources said the pounding of Pakistani positions and terror camps cannot in any way be compared to surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army in September 2016 on terror launch pads across the Line of Control. However, the offensive was the most significant one after India carried out the Balakot strike in February. On February 26, India carried out an aerial strike on a terrorist training camp of the Jaish-e Mohammad terror group in Pakistan's Balakot, in response to Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. Pakistan Air Force retaliated the next day by trying to target military installations but it was repulsed. The PAF downed a MiG-21 Bison in an aerial combat besides capturing IAF pilot Varthaman, who was handed over to India on March 1. Varthaman had shot down an F-16 of Pakistan before his Mig21 Bison was hit. Three terror camps have been destroyed and 6-10 Pakistani soldiers killed in an attack by the army in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on Sunday, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has said. He said the attack was in retaliation to the cross-border firing in Tangdhar by Pakistan, which was trying to infiltrate terrorists. Sources say the terror launch pads in Neelam valley – opposite the Tangdhar sector of Kupwara – were destroyed in the artillery strikes.”Last evening an attempt was made in Tangdhar to infiltrate terrorists. We retaliated. Pakistan Pak carried out an attack, firing at our post in which we did suffer, but before they could attempt the infiltration,” General Rawat said. Sources said as a result of the unprovoked firing, the Indian side undertook a calibrated escalation in which terror launch pads and Pakistan Army posts giving incidental protection to these launch pads and certain gun positions were hit. The army, sources said, retains the right to respond at a time and place of its choosing, in case the Pakistan Army continues to assist terror activities across the border. The armed forces' last hit on terror launch pads was in February after the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror strike in Pulwama. On that occasion, the Air Force had targeted a Jaish camp in Pakistan's Balakot. In September 2016, the army had carried out surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control. Clarifying that today's attack cannot be equated with a surgical strike or a Balakot type strike as it was a step lower in the escalation matrix, sources said it was “significant escalation” that was meant to send out a “strong signal” to the Pakistan Army. By hitting the positions of Pakistani artillery positions, a “clear message was sent that their concealed positions are under observation and will be targeted if there is support to terror,” the sources said. Pakistan has been making repeated attempts to flag Kashmir at international forums, but its efforts have not been successful so far. Through September, Pakistan drones have dropped weapons across Punjab. A report to the Home Ministry said intelligence officials detected as many as eight drone sorties. The possibility of undetected sorties has not been ruled out either. On each sortie, the drones have dropped packages weighing up to 10 kg, which could have been arms, explosives, or means of communication, like cell phones or satellite phones, the report said. Intelligence agencies have also said Pakistan's state actors were responsible for this. Till September this year, Pakistan had committed more than 2,050 unprovoked ceasefire violations in which 21 people died, the centre had said last month.
