Pakistani military spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor on Tuesday refuted the Indian Army’s claims that it had conducted punitive artillery assaults along the Line of Control to deal with “infiltration attempts supported by Pakistani firing” in the Nowshera region.
On Twitter, Ghafoor said, “Indian claims of destroying a Pakistani post along the Line of Control in Nowshera Sector and firing by Pakistan Army targeting civilians across LoC are false.” On May 15, the Pakistani Army had issued a statement warning India of a “full force” retaliatory attack if it resorted to any “misadventure”.
Similarly, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit also denied such claims and said that he is yet to receive a report from Islamabad. “This is nothing to brag about. It reinforces Pakistan’s contention that we need to resolve the issue peacefully,” Basit told CNN-News18 in an interview.
Earlier on Tuesday, Indian Army officer Major General Ashok Narula had said the action by India’s armed forces along the Line of Control was an attempt by the Army to dominate the border as part of its counter-terrorism operations. There has been an increase in infiltrations along the LoC in the summer, Narula had said, referring to recent incidents in the sector. The Indian Army had alleged on May 1 that Pakistan had mutilated the bodies of two soldiers killed during an “unprovoked” exchange of fire near the Line of Control in Nowshera. The soldiers were found in the nearby Krishna Ghati sector.
Narula said that the Army’s actions, which are being seen as retaliation to the Nowshera firing, caused damage to Pakistan Army posts. “We want peace and tranquillity in Jammu and Kashmir,” Narula had added.
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