New Delhi: The Indian Army on Tuesday claimed that it had carried out massive fire assaults across the Line of Control (LoC) and caused major damage to a Pakistan Army post. It released a 24-second video showing Indian bombs blowing up a Pakistani outpost near the Naushera sector in Jammu and Kashmir to smithereens.
The strike, the Army said, was part of a counter-terrorism strategy and aimed at preventing terrorist infiltration aided by the Pakistan Army.
The post that was targeted is a known location that shelters militants and aids their infiltration into the Indian side, usually under cover of firing by the Pakistani Army.
Making a rare appearance on Tuesday, Major General Ashok K. Narula, who heads the additional directorate general of public information (ADGPI), told reporters, “As part of our counter-terrorism operations, punitive fire assaults across the LoC are being undertaken by the Indian Army.”
While the Army did not reveal operational details of the strike and the area of the operation was not clearly identifiable in the video clip, sources said the strike was carried out on May 7, nine days after two Indian security personnel were beheaded.
On May 1, two Indian soldiers were beheaded by a Border Action Team (BAT) of the Pakistani Army in the Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch.
There’s more to come, says Army
Major General Ashok K. Narula, who heads the additional directorate general of public information (ADGPI), told reporters, “Pak Army has been providing support to armed infiltrators by engaging our forward troops from their weapon emplacements and pill-boxes closer to the Line of Control. At times they have not even hesitated to target villages in the proximity of LoC. As part of our counter-terrorism strategy and to ensure that infiltration is curbed and initiative remains with us, the Indian Army proactively dominates the Line of Control.” The ADGPI, under the DG of military intelligence, deals with media relations. “We have done it and we will do it again. There is much more to come,” a top military source told this newspaper, indicating that more targeted assaults across the LoC can be expected.
While the Army denied that artillery guns were used in the assault, the video seemed to indicate that Automatic Grenade Launchers and 105 mm guns fixed to discarded Vijayanta tanks may have been used.
