‘Act of Barbarism’: India Will Respond to Mutilation, Says Jaitley
A statement by the Northern Command said that the bodies of two of the soldiers were mutilated.
The Pakistan Army killed two Indian soldiers in unprovoked cross-border firing and mutilated their bodies in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Army said on Monday.
An army JCO and a BSF head constable were killed as Pakistan fired rockets at a forward defence location (FDL) post of the paramilitary force along the LoC in Poonch.
The ceasefire violation took place around 8:30 am. Naib Subedar Paramjeet Singh and Head Constable Prem Sagar of the BSF's 200 Battalion were killed in the attack and their bodies mutilated.
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley called the mutilation of the bodies “an act of barbarism” and said the armed forces will react to it appropriately.
Jaitley said such attacks do not even take place during war and that the whole country has full faith in the armed forces.
In a statement, the Indian Army’s Northern Command called the attack “unprovoked” and “despicable”.
Another BSF jawan, Rajendra Singh, was injured in the firing. Troops guarding the border line retaliated effectively, an officer said.
In another instance in October, Pakistani militants mutilated an Indian soldier’s body, sparking a diplomatic row between the two countries.
In that incident, the soldier’s head was reportedly carried back across the LoC by the terrorists as they fled back into Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), under supporting fire cover by Pakistani troops.
In the last month, Pakistani troops have breached the truce along the Line of Control in Poonch and Rajouri sectors seven times.
They violated the ceasefire in Poonch sector on 19 April and shelled mortars on forward posts in Noushera sector on 17 April.
Pakistan had resorted to firing in the same sector on 8 April, in Poonch district on 5 April, in Bhimbher Gali sector on 4 April and twice on 3 April in Balakote and (Digwar) Poonch sectors.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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