BSF put on alert along LoC

Heavy cross-border firing was reported from the Pakistan side on the Sabzain Forward Defence Location along the LoC in Poonch district around 11:30 am on Monday, a senior Army official said.

Indian troops retaliated, resulting in the exchange of fire for half-an-hour during which  Shurvir Singh, a BSF jawan, was killed. This was the fifth infiltration bid in a week.
There were also reports of firing of two rockets on the forward post in the same area at 11:35 am and 11:45 am.

Earlier, militants triggered a blast to destroy border fencing in Jammu’s Akhnoor sector, but BSF troops foiled their attempt after a fierce gunfight.
Taking advantage of the dense fog in the area, a group of militants triggered the blast near the border fencing in the Alfa Machel border outpost at Akhnoor, 35 km from here, a senior BSF official said.

The gunfight continued for over an hour following which the militants fled. As the fence has been cut, a major search operation has been launched in the area to find out whether any militant has managed to sneak into the Indian territory.

The first infiltration bid this year was foiled by the BSF at Narianpur Border outpost in the Ramgarh sub-sector of Samba district on January 4. There was another bid along the LoC in the Balakote area of Poonch on January 8. A BSF patrolling party foiled a bid in the forward area of Garkhal in the Pargwal belt of Akhnoor on Sunday.