The Indian Army killed 138 Pakistan Army personnel in 2017 in tactical operations and retaliatory cross-border firings along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, government intelligence sources told PTI on Wednesday, 10 January.
The Indian Army lost 28 soldiers during the same period along the LoC, sources said, adding that the Pakistan Army usually does not acknowledge the deaths of its personnel and shows them as civilian casualties in certain cases.
The Pakistan Army has suffered 138 fatal and 155 non- fatal casualties in tactical operations and retaliatory cross-border firings along the LoC in 2017, intelligence sources told PTI.
A total of 70 Indian Army personnel were injured during cross-border firings and other incidents. Asked about the fatalities on the Pakistani side, the Army refused to comment. However, Army spokesperson Colonel Aman Anand said India has been effectively retaliating against all ceasefire violations by the Pakistan Army and will continue to do so.
According to official figures, 860 incidents of ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops were reported in 2017 as against 221 the previous year.
It seems the Pakistan Army has a policy of not acknowledging the killing of its personnel, sources said.
They also referred to the Kargil War, when Pakistan declined to accept casualties despite proof given by India.
Major Incidents of 2017
The sources also cited an incident on 25 December, when a group of five Army commandos crossed the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir and killed three Pakistani soldiers. The Pakistan Army posted a tweet that day, acknowledging the deaths but later deleted it.
Two days later, the Pakistan Army's spokesperson rejected reports that Indian commandos selectively targeted a post across the LoC and killed three of its soldiers.
Indian Army sources had said the attack was in retaliation to the killing of three Indian soldiers and an Army major in a ceasefire violation on 23 December in Keri, Rajouri.
Intelligence sources said the Indian Army killed 27 Pakistani soldiers in sniper firing last year while seven of its soldiers lost their lives in Pakistani sniper firing along the LoC.
As part of its policy of “hot pursuit”, the Indian Army has been carrying out tactical operations to foil Pakistan Army’s support to terrorists.
In May last year, the Indian Army said it launched "punitive fire assaults" on Pakistani positions across the LoC, inflicting "some damage", days after two Indian Army personnel were beheaded.
Meanwhile in June, five soldiers of the Pakistani army were killed and six were injured in retaliatory fire assaults by the Indian Army in Bhimber and Battal sectors of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, according to sources.
Pak Army Refused to Share Details of Casualties With Country’s Parliament: Report
Interestingly, according to a June 2017 report in Pakistan daily The Express Tribune , the Pakistan Army refused to share details regarding the number of casualties it had suffered along the LoC with the country's parliament.
The report quoted Pakistan's Minister of State for Power Abid Sher Ali as saying in parliament:
Pakistan Army wants to withhold the information about the losses suffered by its troops due to security reasons. We have written to the GHQ for the details of our soldiers who have lost their lives serving along the LoC. However, the military authorities refused to share the details citing security reasons.
Ali had only shared the number of civilian casualties. House chairman Raza Rabbani slammed this refusal and reportedly said, "Nothing can be withheld from Parliament. I am not ready to accept this. Declare us irresponsible people, then (it will be) fair enough."
(With inputs from PTI)
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