NEW DELHI: The ceasefire with Pakistan along the Line of Control has begun to fray with firing of small arms being reported from multiple locations since Thursday night, though big guns like howitzers and large mortars are yet to open up from either side to blow it to smithereens.
The escalation in the aftermath of the Pahalgam massacre came as Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi was in J&K to review the overall operational situation along the 778-km LoC as well as the counter-terror operations, with Udhampur-based Northern Command chief Lt-Gen M V Suchindra Kumar and his successor Lt-Gen Pratik Sharma, among other top officers.
“Gen Dwivedi directed all formations to remain on highest alert,” an officer said, in the backdrop of PM Modi and other top ministers promising deadly retribution as all military options for limited punitive strikes against Pakistan are on the table.
A major incident of prolonged exchange of fire across the heavily-militarised LoC began at Tutmari Gali sector in Kupwara district of J&K around midnight, with Pakistani soldiers “initiating” heavy firing by assault rifles and light machine guns with “tracer bullets” at Indian Army posts.
Indian troops deployed in the area “effectively” responded, with the exchange intermittently continuing for a few hours. “If Pak troops fired around 600 rounds at our posts, our soldiers retaliated with over 1,300 rounds. There were no casualties on our side,” an officer told TOI.
The exchange of fire at other places like Uri, Poonch, Tangdhar and Gurez was not so intense, with jumpy Pakistani soldiers largely indulging in “speculative firing” to elicit responses from the Indian side to pinpoint their positions. “Pak Army is obviously on the edge and expecting a big Indian reaction,” the source added.
LoC has been relatively quiet since the rival director-generals of military operations reached a fresh understanding in Feb 2021 after a particularly violent year that saw as many as 5,133 ceasefire violations. Howitzers, 120mm mortars and anti-tank guided missiles were then often being used in a “direct firing mode” to cause maximum damage on the other side.
Away from LoC, IAF has stepped-up its fighter sorties from bases on western front.
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