Indian forces in control of situation at border: Air Force Chief

Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, on Monday said that Indian forces are in control of the situation at the India-Pakistan border, as cross-border firing continued.

Asked about the deployments of IAF assets on the western front, the Air Chief Marshal, who is also the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee, said: "It's quite normal now. Our deployments are absolutely normal... nothing extraordinary."

"I think Indian forces are in control of the situation," the Raha said on the sidelines of the International Congress of Aviation and Space Medicine here.

Asked about the spurt in ceasefire violations, Raha said: "It has happened for quite some time... The response mechanism and responses..., you are watching every day."

There have been over 100 ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the Line of Control and International Border since India carried out surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the LoC on the intervening night of September 28 and 29.

The surgical strikes were in response to a terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir, killing 19 soldiers.

On Monday, the Pakistan Army started cross-border firing in Mendhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir, using 120 mm mortars and 82 mm mortars, automatics and small arms.

On Sunday, two Indian soldiers were killed in Pakistani shelling when the Army foiled two attempts by terrorists to sneak into Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan.

Two other soldiers and a civilian were wounded in the incident on the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishna Ghati sector in Poonch district.

--IANS

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