Jammu: Barely 24 hours after Pakistan agreed with India that there were will be no mortar shelling on each other, troops from the other side fired mortar bombs along the LoC in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir in a fresh ceasefire violation killing a BSF officer.
“There was ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops this evening by resorting to mortar shelling on forward posts along LoC in Manjakote sector of Rajouri district,” a senior BSF officer said on Sunday, a day after the Border Security Force(BSF) and Pakistan rangers agreed to uphold the sanctity of ceasefire during the DG-level talks in Delhi.
They fired two 82 mm mortar bombs, which exploded near a forward Indian Post in which one Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) of BSF got severe splinter injuries around 1820 hours, he said.Later, the injured ASI died, he said, adding that the victim was identified as Sohan Lal, a resident of Sikar district of Rajasthan. Troops guarding the border on this side also retaliated back.
Troops guarding Pakistani borders earlier in the day opened fire in Samba district along the International Border (IB). “Pakistan rangers fired three rounds early today morning using small weapons. The fire was aimed at a forward Border out Post (BoP) in Samba,” a BSF official said. He, however, said that the BSF did not retaliate to the fire from across the border. There have been 15th ceasefire violations in this month.
Eleven people, including two jawans, were killed and over 30 injured in August in ceasefire violations by Pakistan. There have been over 250 violations of the border ceasefire agreement by Pakistan in the year so far, of which 57 were in August.
As part of efforts to bring peace on the border, India and Pakistan yesterday decided to put a complete ban on firing of mortar shells along the IB in J and K which has claimed the lives of several civilians and damaged their houses.
The two sides also agreed to jointly resolve sensitive issues like ceasefire violations and cross-border infiltration through timely exchange of information, including via email and over telephone.
At the conclusion of the three-day DG-level talks, the two sides inked a 20-point joint record of discussion to follow in the future. BSF Director General Devendra Kumar Pathak and Pak Rangers DG (Punjab) Maj Gen Umar Farooq Burki signed the official record of talks at the headquarters of BSF after wrapping up their talks that took place almost after a break of two years as relations between the two countries came under strain due to a host of issues on the border.
“The two sides have decided that they will not resort to mortar fire along IB in times of peace. At the same time, it was agreed that the two forces will not use heavy weapons and these sort of weaponry and ammunition will only be used as a last resort,” sources said.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also told the visiting Pakistani delegation on Friday that “Indian forces will not fire the first bullet along the international border”. (PTI)
