BSF jawan killed in Pak sniper fire from across LoC in Poonch

Jammu :  A Border Security Force (BSF) jawan was today killed in a sniper attack by the Pakistani army from across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district. A senior BSF officer said the Pakistani army violated the ceasefire and targeted a jawan of the border guarding force, who was on duty at a post along the LoC, with sniper fire.

The jawan, who was critically injured in the attack, succumbed subsequently, he added. It maybe recalled that BSF troops had, on August 26, killed three Pakistani rangers, in retaliation to a jawan of the force sustaining injuries in sniper fire from across the LoC, along the International Border (IB) in Jammu the previous day.

On August 23, senior Army commanders of India and Pakistan had held a flag meeting at the LoC in the Poonch sector and agreed to put mechanisms in place for sustainable peace and tranquillity along the border.

At the meeting of the battalion commander-level officers, the Indian side had highlighted the “abetment and support of the Pakistan Army to cross-border terrorism, sniping actions along the LoC and deliberate targeting of civilians during ceasefire violations,” a defence ministry spokesman said here.

The two sides had agreed to keep the channels of communication between the local commanders open at the LoC, he added. 2017 has seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistan. Till August 1, there were 285 of such violations by the Pakistan Army, while in 2016, the number was significantly less at 228 for the entire year, according to Army figures.

Eleven persons, including nine soldiers, were killed and 18 injured in ceasefire violations by Pakistan Army in July, as per the Army data. There were 83 ceasefire violations, one BAT (Border Action Team) attack and two infiltration bids from the Pakistani side in June, in which four persons, including three jawans, were killed and 12 injured.

In May, there were 79 ceasefire violations, according to officials.