At least five Pakistan army personnel were killed in two separate incidents of violation of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) by Pakistan Army along the Line of Control (LoC) in twin border Districts of Poonch and Rajouri of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), reports Daily Excelsior on September 15. Troops of the Pakistani Army reached the Hajipur sector in J&K and retrieved their dead personnel after showing a white flag on September 11. Lt Gen Ranbir Singh said: “By our calibrated proactive approach, we have been able to attain complete moral ascendancy over the enemy (Pakistan). All infiltration attempts along the LoC have been foiled”. Students of nearly half a dozen schools were trapped in heavy shelling and firing by the Pakistani troops in Mendhar and Balakote sectors of Poonch District and had to be rescued by the Army in their bullet-proof bunkers. Students and civilians had narrow escape in Pakistan shelling in which nearly a dozen houses were damaged and some cattle perished but there were no civilian casualties.
According to reports, three more Pakistan army personnel were reported to have been killed across Mendhar, Balakote and Poonch sectors in retaliatory firing and shelling by the Indian Army. “The Pakistani troopers were killed when their two forward posts caught fire in the Indian retaliatory firing. The Indian action was necessitated as Pakistani posts were directly targeting civilian locations in Mendhar and Balakote posing threat to innocent lives including school children,” they said, adding that shelling and firing from Pakistan side stopped after their forward posts were destroyed. Intense shelling was reported from forward villages of Drana, Malikpur, Chajla, Padri, Sandot, Langiot, Behrot, Panjani, Suhala, Darhuti, Dhar Galloon, Dulat and surrounding villages with people, who had gone for work in the fields and other areas. The shelling stopped after fierce and very effective reply by the Indian troops in which two communication towers and three posts of Pakistan army were destroyed. At least seven to eight Pakistan army personnel have been injured in the Indian action.
Meanwhile, Northern Command chief Lt Gen Ranbir Singh accompanied by GOC 16 Corps Lt Gen Paramjit Singh Sangha on September 14, visited shelling-hit and other forward areas and posts in Rajouri and Sunderbani sectors in Rajouri District of J&K, reports Daily Excelsior. Lt Gen Ranbir Singh said with calibrated and proactive approach, all infiltration attempts along the LoC have been foiled.