The Indian Army struck at Pakistani army posts across the Line of Control (LoC) that were aiding terrorist infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir. The strike that took place on May 9 has been termed as "punitive assault" by the Army.
As part of a new strategy to combat increased infiltration attempts by terrorists supported by Pakistan Army as well as the Border Action Team (BAT) raids comprising terrorists and army personnel, the Indian army is making efforts to identify posts assisting the action and then hit them based, sources said.
The Army, however, refrained from giving the exact number of Pakistani posts destroyed in the action.
The strike took place a week after the Pakistan Army's Border Action Team conducted a raid across the Line of Control, beheading two Indian soldiers in Krishna Ghati sub-sector of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir.
On Tuesday the Army released video footage of the strike targeting Pakistani posts across LoC. It is rare for the Army to officially give visual evidence of such action.
Pakistan Army also released a one-minute 27 seconds video claiming its troops destroyed Indian posts. Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, head of Inter Services Public Relations, said in a tweet on Tuesday evening.
"As part of our counter-terrorism operations, punitive fire assaults across line of control are being undertaken by the Indian Army," Additional Director General of Public Information Maj Gen A K Narula said.
Pakistan Army on Tuesday denied claims by the Indian Army that the latter had carried out an 'operation' on Pakistani posts along the Line of Control (LoC).
"Indian claims of destroying Pakistani post along LoC in Naushera Sector and firing by Pakistan Army on civilians across LoC are false," Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said in a tweet.
"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 Line of Control," he added
The army has also identified 17 terror launch pads being supported by Pakistan army in the recent past that are near the LoC. Many of these launchpads were destroyed in the surgical strikes by the Indian army in September last year. But intelligence inputs indicate that they are active again getting support from Pakistan army.
Targeting these terror launch pads along with maximising offensive against the Pakistan army is high on agenda to combat the increased infiltration attempts.
The Indian Army is making efforts to dominate locations close to LoC. The Pakistani posts aiding infiltration of terrorists are being targeted and destroyed to deny advantage to terrorists.
Based on intelligence inputs, the Army is expecting infiltrations to increase with melting of snow and opening of passes.
On May 20-21, four terrorists were killed in Naugam and three soldiers were martyred in the operation.
"This calls for even more proactive counter-terrorism operations," Maj Gen Narula added.
The number of local youth joining terror ranks has increased with local recruits since July last year crossing the 100 mark. With more infiltration of Pakistani terrorists the fear of locals being radicalised has become major concern for security forces that are combating a long spell of unrest in Kashmir since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen local commander Burhan Wani last year in July.
"We want peace and tranquillity in the state of J&K. For this purpose, it is essential that the infiltrations along Line of Control are controlled. This is also essential to bring down the number of terrorists in J&K so that the youths of the state are not adversely influenced by terrorists," Maj Gen Narula said.
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