Army destroys 3 terror camps in PoK

The Army has destroyed three functional terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in retaliatory artillery fire, Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat said, as tension escalated following the death of two Indian Army personnel and a civilian in Pakistan Army firing on Saturday night.

The Army said the camps — being used by Pakistan Army to push terrorists into Indian territory — were located in PoK opposite to the Tangdhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

Gen Rawat on Sunday briefed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh about the developments. The army chief said "six to 10 Pakistani soldiers" had been killed and "three camps had been destroyed" in the attack.

An Indian Army spokesperson said, “Last night, Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation to assist infiltration by terrorists into Indian territories. As a result calibrated escalation of area weapons was undertaken by the Indian side in which terrorist launch pads, Pakistan Army posts giving incidental protection to these launch pads and certain gun positions were hit.”

In television interviews, Rawat said the decision to retaliate was taken as terrorist infiltration was on the rise. “Ever since Article 370 (imparting special status to J&K) was abrogated, we have been getting repeated inputs of infiltration by terrorists from across the border to disturb peace and harmony in the state. It was decided that we target that terror camps across since we had the coordinates of these camps and can cause severe damage to terrorist infrastructure across the border,” the army chief said.

The Army spokesperson said the Indian Army retained the right to respond at a time and place of its choosing in case Pakistan Army continued to assist terrorist activities across the borders.

Sources said Indian strikes targeted terror camps at Jura, Athmuqam and Kundalsahi in the Neelam Valley in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. However, in an official statement, Islamabad alleged Indian ceasefire violation at Jura, Shahkot and Nauscheri opposite to Tangdhar.

The Indian civilian killed in Pakistan firing has been identified as Mohd Sadiq, (55) while three others Mohd Maqbool (70), Mohd Shafi (50) and Yusuf Hamid (22) suffered injuries. In Islamabad, Pakistan officials said three civilians had died and six others had been injured due to Indian firing.

Pakistan Foreign Office on Sunday summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner Gauruv Ahluwalia and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by India on October 19 and 20.