Indian drone shot down over Pakistan’s airspace
Four children killed in fresh firing by Indian troops
A man picks up part of a mortar shell fired by Indian forces in Bhimber sector of LoC. PHOTO: ONLINE
MUZAFFARABAD/ISLAMABAD:
An Indian drone was shot down over Pakistan’s airspace on Saturday hours after four children were killed in fresh mortar shelling by Indian border guards on the civilian population near the Line of Control in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The Indian quadcopter was downed by Pakistani troops manning the Aagahi post at the Rakhchakri sector of the LoC, according to the chief military spokesperson.
“The quadcopter intruded 60 metres into the Pakistani side of the LoC,” Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa, the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), wrote on the popular microblogging site Twitter. “The drone fell in the Pakistani territory and was taken over by our troops.”
India violated Line of Control ceasefire 103 times, Senate told
The incident came a day after Pakistan Navy revealed that it had detected an Indian Navy submarine south of the Pakistani coast on November 14 which was subsequently tracked and “pushed well clear of our waters”.
It’s not the first time Pakistani troops have downed a remotely controlled Indian surveillance plane. In July last year, a spy drone of the Indian military was shot down in Bhimber sector. And before that, a similar Indian drone was taken down near the Working Boundary in Kasur district in 2002.
According to security experts, spy drones are flown to conduct aerial photography and surveillance.
Tensions between Pakistan and India reached dangerous levels in September, when New Delhi blamed Pakistan-based militants for a brazen raid on a military base in Uri, Indian Occupied Kashmir, which killed 19 soldiers.
There have since been repeated outbreaks of firing by Indian troops at the LoC and Working Boundary, killing several civilians and some soldiers.
On Saturday, Indian troops again violated the ceasefire and shelled villages near the LoC in Khoi Ratta and Bhimber sectors, killing four people. According to police and civil administration, an Indian shell slammed into a house in Sabzkot Kerri Sanghal village of Kotli, killing Shahzad Rafiq, 18, his 10-year-old sister Faiza Rafiq and their two cousins – Areeba Saghir, 5, and Shanza, 12.
Another two children of the same family, identified as Mahmood and Iqra, were wounded. They were driven to a military hospital in Mangla where medics said their wounds were critical.
A woman was injured when Indian border guards fired mortar shells on Samhani and Barnala villages in Bhimber sector. The woman, identified as Tazeem, was rushed to Mirpur’s District Headquarters Hospital where doctors said her wounds were not life-threatening.
According to police, Indian forces started firing in the morning and targeted civilian population. Residents said the Pakistan Army retaliated and silenced the Indian guns. “Pakistani troops have been targeting Indian posts in retaliation for the unprovoked firing in a befitting manner,” according to the ISPR.
India suffering mounting losses: corps commander
India has violated the 2003 ceasefire agreement at the LoC 103 times in the past one year – 58 times since the September 18 Uri attack, according to a report shared with the Senate a couple of days back.
Civil and military officials say the Indian forces are acting out of sheer desperation as Pakistani troops are effectively targeting their posts along the LoC and Working Boundary.
Army chief General Raheel Sharif told journalists in a recent informal chat that over 40 Indian soldiers have been killed in retaliatory fire by Pakistan troops but New Delhi was covering up its casualties.
“The Indians appear to have lost their mind. They are acting crazily to settle score but they will only end up counting more bodies,” an official told The Express Tribune.
A senior cabinet minister also said that the frequent truce violations by India and other aggressive posturing showed it frustration over heavy casualties it has suffered on the border and Pakistan’s effective diplomacy on the Kashmir issue.
“India is having nightmares after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif put the global spotlight on flagrant rights abuses by Indian troops in IOK,” SAFRON Minister Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch told The Express Tribune. “Moreover, our troops are effectively responding to their aggression along the LoC and Working Boundary.”
Defence analyst Brigadier (retd) Mehmood Shah said Narendra Modi’s policy of Hindu extremism was taking toll on India. “A global terrorist whose entry was once banned in the US and the UK for his role in the Gujarat slaughter has risen to power. What else can one expect from him? Modi’s hegemonic designs are pushing India into international isolation.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 20th, 2016.
An Indian drone was shot down over Pakistan’s airspace on Saturday hours after four children were killed in fresh mortar shelling by Indian border guards on the civilian population near the Line of Control in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The Indian quadcopter was downed by Pakistani troops manning the Aagahi post at the Rakhchakri sector of the LoC, according to the chief military spokesperson.
“The quadcopter intruded 60 metres into the Pakistani side of the LoC,” Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa, the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), wrote on the popular microblogging site Twitter. “The drone fell in the Pakistani territory and was taken over by our troops.”
India violated Line of Control ceasefire 103 times, Senate told
The incident came a day after Pakistan Navy revealed that it had detected an Indian Navy submarine south of the Pakistani coast on November 14 which was subsequently tracked and “pushed well clear of our waters”.
It’s not the first time Pakistani troops have downed a remotely controlled Indian surveillance plane. In July last year, a spy drone of the Indian military was shot down in Bhimber sector. And before that, a similar Indian drone was taken down near the Working Boundary in Kasur district in 2002.
According to security experts, spy drones are flown to conduct aerial photography and surveillance.
Tensions between Pakistan and India reached dangerous levels in September, when New Delhi blamed Pakistan-based militants for a brazen raid on a military base in Uri, Indian Occupied Kashmir, which killed 19 soldiers.
There have since been repeated outbreaks of firing by Indian troops at the LoC and Working Boundary, killing several civilians and some soldiers.
On Saturday, Indian troops again violated the ceasefire and shelled villages near the LoC in Khoi Ratta and Bhimber sectors, killing four people. According to police and civil administration, an Indian shell slammed into a house in Sabzkot Kerri Sanghal village of Kotli, killing Shahzad Rafiq, 18, his 10-year-old sister Faiza Rafiq and their two cousins – Areeba Saghir, 5, and Shanza, 12.
Another two children of the same family, identified as Mahmood and Iqra, were wounded. They were driven to a military hospital in Mangla where medics said their wounds were critical.
A woman was injured when Indian border guards fired mortar shells on Samhani and Barnala villages in Bhimber sector. The woman, identified as Tazeem, was rushed to Mirpur’s District Headquarters Hospital where doctors said her wounds were not life-threatening.
According to police, Indian forces started firing in the morning and targeted civilian population. Residents said the Pakistan Army retaliated and silenced the Indian guns. “Pakistani troops have been targeting Indian posts in retaliation for the unprovoked firing in a befitting manner,” according to the ISPR.
India suffering mounting losses: corps commander
India has violated the 2003 ceasefire agreement at the LoC 103 times in the past one year – 58 times since the September 18 Uri attack, according to a report shared with the Senate a couple of days back.
Civil and military officials say the Indian forces are acting out of sheer desperation as Pakistani troops are effectively targeting their posts along the LoC and Working Boundary.
Army chief General Raheel Sharif told journalists in a recent informal chat that over 40 Indian soldiers have been killed in retaliatory fire by Pakistan troops but New Delhi was covering up its casualties.
“The Indians appear to have lost their mind. They are acting crazily to settle score but they will only end up counting more bodies,” an official told The Express Tribune.
A senior cabinet minister also said that the frequent truce violations by India and other aggressive posturing showed it frustration over heavy casualties it has suffered on the border and Pakistan’s effective diplomacy on the Kashmir issue.
“India is having nightmares after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif put the global spotlight on flagrant rights abuses by Indian troops in IOK,” SAFRON Minister Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch told The Express Tribune. “Moreover, our troops are effectively responding to their aggression along the LoC and Working Boundary.”
Defence analyst Brigadier (retd) Mehmood Shah said Narendra Modi’s policy of Hindu extremism was taking toll on India. “A global terrorist whose entry was once banned in the US and the UK for his role in the Gujarat slaughter has risen to power. What else can one expect from him? Modi’s hegemonic designs are pushing India into international isolation.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 20th, 2016.