SRI NAGAR: The Army has been put on high alert to deal with any exigency at the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir as tensions flared up at the border on Saturday after Pakistani troops fired at Indian posts in many sectors in Kashmir for the second successive night.
A defence official said on the night of April 25-26, Pakistani troops breached border ceasefire agreement and carried out unprovoked firing from multiple posts across the LoC in Kashmir.
“Multiple Indian posts were targeted by the Pakistani troops. Indian troops responded appropriately...,” he said.
There were no casualties or injuries, an officer said. The firing on Indian army posts by Pakistani troops has come days after militants attacked tourists at Baisaran meadows in Pahalgam, killing 25 tourists and a local resident.
On Saturday, banned terror outfit The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy for the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), after initially taking the responsibility, issued an online statement denying its involvement in the Pahalgam terror attack. Sources said the TRF denial has come under pressure from the Pakistani establishment and in view of the protest by Kashmiris.
Tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) had already escalated on Friday with speculative firing, as military sources indicated that Pakistani troops may have been testing the alertness of Indian soldiers. This comes amid rising calls within India for strong action against terror hotspots across the border following the deadly Pahalgam terror attack, in which five militants killed at least 26 civilians in the Baisaran meadow, known as "Mini Switzerland."
In retaliation to the terror attack , India suspended the Indus Water Treaty, with the Jal Shakti Minister asserting that "not a drop" of the river’s water would flow to Pakistan. Both countries also expelled diplomatic staff and cancelled visas, leaving visitors with a tight deadline to return home.
New Delhi asked all Pakistanis who entered the country via the Attari land border to leave by May 1.
In its response, Pakistan on Thursday announced shutting its airspace to all Indian airlines and suspended trade with New Delhi, including through third countries.
Pakistan also rejected India's suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty and said any measures to stop the flow of water belonging to Pakistan under the pact would be seen as an "act of war".
In a separate incident on Friday, a gunfight broke out between security forces and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district. Sources reported that a terrorist on the run was injured, while two senior police officers also sustained injuries during the exchange of fire.
The clash erupted after security personnel launched a cordon-and-search operation in the Bazipora forest area, acting on intelligence about the presence of terrorists. The operation turned into a gunfight when the terrorists opened fire.
The day before, a Special Forces soldier was martyred in a similar encounter between joint security forces and terrorists in Udhampur district.
(With inputs from Fayaz Wani)