BSF kills 7 Pakistani Rangers

The Border Security Force said Friday that it had killed seven Pakistan Rangers and a militant in retaliatory fire along the international border in J&K Kathua district. The stretch of the 198-km IB through the Hiranagar sector of Kathua has seen active hostilities erupting at intervals between the BSF and Pakistan Rangers for the past week. Each side accused the other of initiating the firing in violation of the November 2003 ceasefire.

BSF officials said the Pakistan Rangers opened small-arms, RPG and mortar fire on Indian posts in Hiranagar sector Friday morning, after which it retaliated using same-calibre weapons. One BSF jawan was critically injured in the Pakistani firing, they added.

The Pakistan Rangers, official sources said, violated the ceasefire at two different locations on Friday, that were retaliated to by the BSF and the Army. The first was reported around 9.30 am in Hiranagar sector, in which BSF constable Gurnam Singh was critically hurt in a sniper attack, while the second violation was at 12.40 pm in Rajouri region, the sources said. They added Gurnam Singh was rushed to a Jammu hospital with severe bullet injuries.

The sources also said that after the sniper attack in the Hiranagar sector, the Pakistan Rangers used heavy mortar shells, while in Rajouri it was more firing with small automatic weapons. At Hiranagar, the BSF too retaliated with heavy firing, that resulted in the death of seven Pakistan Rangers and one militant planning to infiltrate across the border.

The Union home ministry has now put both the BSF and the Army on high alert along the IB and the Line of Control. Some reports claimed that the Pakistan Army has mobilised its heavy artillery and even tanks on its side of the border.

In Pakistan, however, Lt. Gen. Asim Bajwa, director-general of Inter-Services Public Relations, denied that any Pakistani border guards were killed in the Indian firing. He tweeted: “Indian claim of hitting or killing any Pakistani soldier/Ranger with firing anytime of today at LoC/Working Boundary absolutely false.”

He also wrote on Twitter: “Indians resorted to unprovoked fire/shelling on Working Boundary in Shakargarh sector today. Pak Ranger befittingly responded. No loss on Pakistan side.”

Earlier on Friday, Pakistan’s ISPR confirmed in a statement that the troops of the two sides exchanged fire in two separate incidents, but claimed there was no loss of life or property on the Pakistani side. It also said the exchanges took place in Punjab’s Shakargarh area (facing Kathua) and across the LoC in the Karela sector. It claimed the Pakistani troops “befittingly” responded to the “unprovoked” firing by the Indians. The ISPR also said the first incident of cross-border firing in Shakargarh was reported 9 am and continued for half an hour, while the second incident was reported later in the day.

BSF officials had on Thursday said it had foiled a major infiltration bid across the IB after killing one of the six militants in Kathua’s Bobiya area (Hiranagar sector). The others were forced to retreat. IG BSF (Jammu Frontier) D.K. Upadhyaya said the infiltrating militants were giving firing cover by Pakistan Rangers, who also used RPGs as used in “forced infiltration”. He added: “The BSF jawans, who were on high alert, immediately comprehended the infiltrators’ strategy and gave them a befitting response by resorting to a heavy volume of firing.”