Firing at BSF post in Punjab; intrusion repulsed

Firing was reported at a BSF post along the international border with Pakistan in Gurdaspur district of north Punjab early on Monday.

The Border Security Force troopers, according to sources, repulsed an intrusion bid by 8-10 people in the counter offensive at Chakri border out post (BoP).

The sources said that the firing started around 2 a.m. after the alert troopers, using Hand Held Thermal Imagers (HHTI), noticed movement of 8-10 people near the international border.

The intruders, who had crossed the border but were behind the barbed wire fencing, were challenged.

"They fired at the BSF post. Our troopers immediately retaliated the firing. The intruders retreated back to Pakistan. A search operation has been launched in the area today (Monday) morning," a BSF official said.

Tension has been escalated between India and Pakistan following the recent terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army across the Line of Control (LoC) to destroy terror launch pads in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Terrorists, suspected to be from Pakistan, had attacked the frontier Indian Air Force (IAF) base in Pathankot town of Punjab on January 2 this year, leaving seven security personnel dead.

The Pathankot attack was preceded by a terror attack by Pakistani terrorists in Dinanagar town of Gurdaspur district on July 27 last year.

--IANS

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