Pakistan Breaks Ceasefire For 12th Consecutive Night; Indian Troops Give ‘Strong And Calibrated’ Response

SRINAGAR: Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire agreement at multiple locations along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir by resorting to “unprovoked” small fire overnight, the Indian Army said on Tuesday, adding that its troops responded “promptly and proportionately.”

“The Pakistani troops initiated unprovoked small-arms fire across the LoC for the 12th consecutive night, targeting multiple sectors including Kupwara, Baramulla, Poonch, Rajouri, Mendhar, Naushera, Sunderbani, and Akhnoor. The Indian Army responded promptly and proportionately, with no reported casualties,” a defence spokesman said in Jammu.

Amid heightened tensions triggered by the April 22 terror attack at Pahalgam -blamed on ‘Pakistan-backed’ terrorists by India-several areas both along the 740-km LoC and the 198-km International Border (IB) in J&K witnessed a significant troop movement in the past two days. While reports received here spoke of extraordinary troop and military equipment movements toward the border areas of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) and Sialkot-Jammu border (called IB by India and ‘working boundary’ by Pakistan), a rapid mobilisation has been witnessed in certain sectors on the India side too.

Some social media videos show the Pakistani troops moving towards the border areas including Tanda, Chichawatni, Sahiwal, Pattoki, Moel and Bhimber with heavy equipment including 122mm artillery guns and battle tanks employed with 125 mm guns. On May 2, Pakistan had conducted military exercises involving tanks and heavy artillery to demonstrate combat readiness in Sialkot, Narowal, Zafarwal, and Shakargarh sectors of the IB.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday visited the headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Islamabad to receive a briefing on the preparedness of his country’s armed forces in view of the heightened tensions with India. As per a statement issued by his office, the briefing “focused on preparedness against conventional threats in the light of India’s increasingly assertive posture along the eastern border. "

Sharif, according to Pakistani media, was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar, defence minister Khawaja Asif, and the chiefs of Pakistan’s armed forces and they were also informed about the “evolving threat matrix, including conventional military options, hybrid warfare, and the use of proxies”.

Border-dwellers in both Kashmir Valley and Jammu region, after being asked by the authorities to remain vigilant, have cleaned and prepared the bunkers for use in the event of any eventuality. These household-level shelters and village-shared shelters capable of accommodating multiple families were constructed between zero to three kilometres from the LoC and IB when the facing armies would, prior to the two countries renewed the November 2003 ceasefire agreement in February 2021, routinely engage in skirmishes.