A twenty-year-old Army jawan hailing from Maharashtra was martyred along the line of control (LoC) in Krishan Ghati sector of Poonch early Tuesday morning.

So far 13 soldiers have attained martyrdom in different incidents of ceasefire violations along the line of control since January 2018 while 14 civilians have lost their lives in intense shelling during the same period.

Unconfirmed reports suggested one of the forward posts of the Indian army could have been targeted by the Border Action Team (BAT) of Pakistan army under the cover of intense shelling in the area.

At least one senior officer and two other Junior commissioned officers also received injuries during unprovoked and indiscriminate firing from the Pakistan side in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch on Tuesday.

According to official sources, a unit of the Indian army had recently shifted there and the jawans were still in the process of understanding the terrain and general topography of the area. In the past also Pakistan army had carried out BAT operations at the time of moving and shifting of new army units in the forward areas.

Pakistan army was violating ceasefire agreement in the region continuously for last three days waiting for an opportunity to launch BAT operations to target Indian soldiers.

Till late evening there was no official word on the nature of injuries received by the army officers. They were shifted to military hospital from Poonch.

Udhampur based spokesman of Northern command headquarters Col NN Joshi in a press statement said, "Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of Small arms, automatics & mortars from 0700 hours in Krishna Ghati sector along the Line of Control (LC) on Tuesday". He said in response Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively.

However, in the exchange of fire, Sepoy Mustapure Shubham Suryakant was grievously injured and succumbed to his injuries.

Col NN Joshi said, "Sepoy Mustapure Shubham Suryakant, aged 20 years, belonged to Village Konerwadi, Chatori Tehsil, District Parbhani, Maharashtra and is survived by his mother Sunita"

Courtesy: The Pioneer, Wednesday, 04 April 2018 | Mohit Kandhari | Jammu