Pakistan on Monday continued to violate truce along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. This time the strike was in the Malti sector of Poonch. The violation comes just days after the Indian Army Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) spoke to his Pakistani counterpart to de-escalate violence and terrorism along the LoC.
Also read: J&K: Indian Army soldier found dead with bullet wounds in Poonch district
The incident also comes barely hours after the Indian Army retaliated to ceasefire violation of the Pakistan Army in the Karmara sector, also in the Poonch district. That transgression by the Pakistan Army had come after close to a month of peace along the border — predicated by instances of attempted infiltration that the Indian Army foiled from time to time, neutralising terrorists who were trying to enter India.
As a result of the firing, the cross-LoC bus service between Poonch in India and Rawlakote in Pakistan has been suspended till next Monday. Deferred photographs of the ceasefire violation by Pakistan came to light later, showing how the Pakistani Army had resorted to mortar shelling. The photos can be seen here:
#Visuals: Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Malti sector of Poonch. pic.twitter.com/lrhnuOWkxe
— ANI (@ANI_news) March 13, 2017
Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore — an Olympic medallist who also happens to be an Indian Army Colonel — said after the attack: "This is an old habit of Pakistan. They violate ceasefire whenever there is a festival in India."
Former sarpanch killed
Meanwhile, unidentified gunmen killed a former sarpanch named Fayaz Ahmed in the Kakapora in the Pulwama district of J&K. A police case has been registered in connection with the killing of the former sarpanch — who was a part of the Congress — and the cops are probing the case.
