Sources said some bunkers of Pakistan army were also destroyed in the action besides inflicting heavy casualties on their troops.
Army launched a massive punitive action against the Pakistan army, killing five of their troops, in an apparent bid to avenge the killing of two Indian soldiers along the Line of Control (LoC) in Nowshera sector.
Focus of the fire assault was Pakistani posts opposite to the Poonch sector where Indian troops used firepower to inflict casualties on the Pakistani side. Sources said some bunkers of Pakistan army were also destroyed in the action besides inflicting heavy casualties on their troops.
"The answer lies in your question itself. Your report said in last few days five Pak soldiers were killed. It shows Army gives befitting response whenever Pakistan resorts to any misadventure," replied Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of Northern Command to a pointed question about the casualties inflicted to Pakistan army.
On January 11, Pakistan backed anti-national elements detonated a massive Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion along the Line of Control (LoC) leaving a Major and a Rifleman dead in Nowshera sector of Jammu division. On the same day, a porter was also killed in another ceasefire violation by Pakistan army in the Sunderbani sector along the LoC.
"As for the situation on the LoC is concerned, you know for so many years Pakistan has been carrying out all nasty things. They try to push infiltrators to spread terror. To give them cover, they resort to ceasefire violation. Indian army is capable of giving befitting response whenever there is any ceasefire violation or sniping", Lieutenant General Singh said
What however generated a controversy was Northern Army Commander's statement that 2018 has been a remarkable year for the armed forces from the security viewpoint as they have killed highest number of terrorists in the last 10 years.
"Last year we killed over 250 terrorists; 54 were caught alive and four surrendered. It shows the security forces' capability. Our operations were so accurate that those terrorists who wanted to do nasty things and inflict casualties on civilians were eliminated," he said.
Minutes later former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah hit back saying the compulsion of killing militants/terrorists shouldn't be treated as a cause for celebration.
"I beg to differ, a great year would be one in which no young man would join militancy, no terrorists would be killed & no security personnel would lose their lives in encounters. The compulsion of killing militants/terrorists shouldn't be treated as a cause for celebration", Omar tweeted.
PDP too jumped on to the bandwagon urging the Northern Army to show some sensitivity. "Please don't reduce it to a sport gen saheb. Humans can't be hunting trophies. They are your own. Some sensitivity expected", tweeted Naeem Akhtar, senior PDP leader and former J&K education minister
Three Cops injured
Meanwhile, terrorists struck in the high-security zone and attacked a police party with grenade injuring three cops including an officer at Zero Bridge in the upmarket Srinagar.
The incident occurred at a place which is just 1.5 kilometre away from Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket Stadium, the main venue for the January 26 parade in Srinagar.
Police sources said terrorists surfaced near Zero Bridge at around 2 pm and lobbed a powerful grenade on the police outpost. The grenade exploded with a big bang causing splinter injuries to three cops including assistant sub-inspector.
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