Indian attack destroyed 3 terror camps in PoK, says army chief

Army chief General Bipin Rawat said that the Indian Army attacked terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on Sunday (October 20), as a result of which, over six Pakistani soldiers and a similar number of terrorists were killed and three terror camps destroyed.

Speaking to reporters, Rawat further said that about three terrorist camps opposite to the Tangdhar sector were destroyed in the attack. “On the basis of reports that we have been getting, 6-10 Pakistani soldiers have been killed, three camps have been destroyed. Similar number of terrorists have also been killed,” he was quoted as saying by ANI.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has rejected reports that the Indian Army targeted terror camps in the PoK, saying that it can arrange a visit of diplomats from the P5 nations to the area to expose Indian “falsehood”.

Meanwhile, reports said that Pakistani army posts were also hit in the artillery gun attack launched by Indian Army that has resulted in more injuries on the enemy’s side.

An army source had earlier said the attacks on the terror launch pads were in retaliation to the support provided by Pakistan Army to push terrorists into Indian territory. Army has used artillery guns to target the terrorist camps.

As per sources, the terror launch pads were located in Neelam Valley opposite the Tangdhar sector along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. There have been reports of several more injuries too, apart from four to five Pakistani soldiers that were killed in the artillery gun attack.

Following the incident. Defence minister Rajnath Singh spok to Army Chief General Bipin Rawat. The Defence minister is personally monitoring the situation and asked the Army Chief to keep updating him, says ANI.

Earlier on Sunday, two Indian soldiers and a civilian were killed when Pakistani troops violated ceasefire in the area. Three civilians were injured and two houses were damaged in the firing, police said.

Officers from the Indian Army told reporters that they retaliated strongly to the unprovoked attack.

Also read: 21 Indians killed in 2,050 ceasefire violations in J&K, Centre tells Pak

India has raised the issue of ceasefire violations with Pakistan, which have increased drastically since the abrogation of Article 370 in August, army sources were quoted as saying by PTI.

According to PTI, 296 cases of ceasefire violations were registered in the month of July, 307 in August and 292 in September. 61 cases were also filed in September under “calibre escalation”, which referred to the use of heavy ammunition.

The Centre had stated last month that over the past nine months, Pakistan had carried out more than 2,050 unprovoked attacks, which killed 21 people.

The armed forces’ last hit on terror launch pads was in February after the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror strike in Pulwama. On that occasion, the Air Force had targeted a Jaish camp in Pakistan’s Balakot. In September 2016, the army had carried out surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control.

Clarifying that today’s attack cannot be equated with a surgical strike or a Balakot type strike as it was a step lower in the escalation matrix, sources said it was “significant escalation” that was meant to send out a “strong signal” to the Pakistan Army.

By hitting the positions of Pakistani artillery positions, a “clear message was sent that their concealed positions are under observation and will be targeted if there is support to terror,” the sources said.

Sources said lately, the terror camps have been trying to push terrorists into Indian territory – part of Pakistan’s plan to destabilise the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, following the centre’s move in August to end the state’s special status and bifurcate it into two Union Territories. The army said most of these efforts have been foiled, but it has not ruled out the possibility of a few slipping in.