Amid increasing incidents of ceasefire violations and cross-border infiltration attempts by Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC), the Indian Army has taken a firm stand and decided to tackle the issue stringently. It has been learnt that commanding officers and jawans have been given “adequate freedom” by the Army to retaliate and give a befitting reply to cross-border action. The Army has been taking proactive measures in the aftermath of the surgical strikes in September 2016, and it believes that that it can undertake proactive tactical actions on LoC, The Indian Express reported.
Ceasefire violations have led to nine jawans being martyred this year so far along the LoC. As part of its counter-terror strategy, the Army is opting for stand-off fire, raids or guerilla tactical operations and punitive fire assaults. According to reports, close to 400 terrorists have been waiting on the LoC (Pakistan side) to infiltrate into India. Reports also suggest that so far 20 Pakistani soldiers have been killed on LoC and seven were injured.
In January, 138 Pakistan Army personnel were reportedly killed in 2017 in tactical operations and retaliatory cross-border firings along the LoC. In the corresponding period, 28 Indian jawans also lost their lives along the LoC. The Pakistan Army generally denies reports of deaths of its personnel and instead 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 were quoted as saying by PTI.
In 2017, there were 860 incidents of ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops even as the Indian Army has adopted a “tough” approach.
