Soldier killed, army foils two infiltration bids

The Army said on Sunday that a soldier was killed when it foiled two attempts by terrorists to sneak into Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan.

Defence spokesman Lt Col Manish Mehta told IANS that the Army prevented the infiltration bids on Saturday night along the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishna Ghati sector in Poonch district.

"Alert and vigilant troops observed suspicious movement and challenged the infiltrators. The infiltrators opened fire while trying to go back to Pakistan," the spokesman said.

"In the ensuring firefight, Sepoy Gursewak Singh of 22 Sikh Regiment, aged 23, suffered gunshot wounds and succumbed to his injuries while being evacuated," the officer said.

"The martyr is survived by his father Balvinder Singh. He belongs to village Warana, Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Punjab."

The Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked firing and shelling in Krishna Ghati sector and Mendhar sub-sector of the LoC on Sunday, the spokesman said.

At least four places came under indiscriminate shelling and firing from the Pakistan Army which started at 8.40 a.m. Both civil and defence facilities were targeted, a police official said here.

"The Indian Army has effectively retaliated using same calibre weapons. Shelling and firing exchanges are still on," he said.

Sunday's violation on the border came after a lull of two days when an uneasy calm prevailed on the LoC and the International Border.

Violations of the 2003 ceasefire agreement by Pakistan have become widespread since the Indian Army carried out surgical strikes against terrorist launch pads across the LoC in Pakistani territory in September.

--IANS

sq/mr