Four soldiers martyred in LoC attack: ISPR

[su-47]

really? so if you are a kashmiri who wants kashmir to be independant, how would you see azad kashmir and the pakistani forces there?

i am not saying that these militants are pro-india. rather they are probably ones who hate both india and pakistan.

 

[Flintlock]

Kashmiri jehadists are not fighting for separation from Pakistan imo, they want to convert Pakistan into an islamic state.

The PA was their facilitator for kashmiri jehad. The moment they stopped helping them, they became the enemy.

 

[salman nedian]

really? so if you are a kashmiri who wants kashmir to be independant, how would you see azad kashmir and the pakistani forces there?

i am not saying that these militants are pro-india. rather they are probably ones who hate both india and pakistan.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) is a self-governing state under Pakistani control. It has its own elected president, prime minister, legislature, high court, and official flag and it is not under occupation like Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

 

[salman nedian]

Kashmiri jehadists are not fighting for separation from Pakistan imo, they want to convert Pakistan into an islamic state.

The PA was their facilitator for kashmiri jehad. The moment they stopped helping them, they became the enemy.

Pakistan is already an Islamic state bro!

Kashmiri mujahideen are fighting for their right of self determination.

 

[Flintlock]

Pakistan is already an Islamic state bro!

Kashmiri mujahideen are fighting for their right of self determination.

I meant a fundamentalist state...

 

[vish]

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) is a self-governing state under Pakistani control.

An oxymoron.

It has its own elected president, prime minister, legislature, high court, and official flag and it is not under occupation like Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

The independence of these institutions is circumspect.

Coming back to the topic:

The four soldiers have been killed by firing from the Pakistani side.

This sounds really wierd to me; mistaken blue on blue hit?

If so, then by whom? PA regulars or militants?

If this involves militants, then was it really blue-on-blue or was it purposeful?

All the citizens of Jammu & Kashmir want is peace, prosperity, and normalcy, regardless of who is governing; these terrorist have other ideas though.

 

[Sam Dhanraj]

According to this article, the death were most likely the outcome of an accidental clash between Pakistani troops and a jihadist group.

Four Pakistani soldiers killed by jihadis on LoC​

Indian counter-infiltration action may have precipitated the clash


NEW DELHI: Indian counter-infiltration action may have precipitated a clash between a jihadist group and a Pakistan army unit, which left four of its soldiers dead and three more injured.

Speaking to journalists in Islamabad on Thursday a Pakistan army spokesperson said the troops died in a clash near the town of Hajira, east of the Line of Control, in the district of Poonch, with “unknown miscreants.” He offered no explanation of how the fighting had broken out.

However, highly-placed Indian military sources stationed in the area told The Hindu that the deaths were most likely the outcome of an accidental clash between Pakistani troops and a jihadist group.

Soldiers from the 8 Gurkha Rifles’ 2nd Battalion, stationed in the Krishna Ghati sector of the LoC, reported seeing movement along the LoC at 11.30 a.m. Suspecting that an infiltration attempt was under way, the troops fired warning shots. Fire was returned from the Pakistani side of the LoC. The sources said sporadic exchanges of fire continued in the area, which lies due east of Hajira, until 4.30 p.m.

Indian troops reported seeing two bodies lying near the LoC, but failed to locate either during searches in the evening.

A senior army official said the clash most likely began when the retreating jihadists ran into a Pakistan army patrol. “In the fog of the fighting,” he said, “it is possible the jihadis mistook the Pakistani army troops for an Indian ambush, or the other way around.”

Members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Jaish-e-Mohammad and the al-Badr have staged repeated infiltration attempts this summer along the LoC, often using Pakistan army posts as logistical bases.

Last month, a soldier of the 8 Gurkha Rifles was killed after jihadists shelled an Indian forward post near Salhotri village, between Krishna Ghati and Mendhar. Jawashwar Lami Chhame, a Nepali national serving in the Indian Army, was killed.

The fighting — one of nine clashes involving jihadist groups that have taken place on the LoC this year — came days after Indian troops interdicted an infiltrating group on the Tarkundi Gali pass. A militant was killed.

Pakistan military spokesperson Major-General Athar Abbas confirmed that the soldiers’ deaths were not caused by Indian military action.

“The fire was not from the Indian bunkers,” he said.

The Hindu : Front Page : Four Pakistani soldiers killed by jihadis on LoC

 

[Flintlock]

Pak patrol in ***(or AJK) ambushed, 2 killed
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Thursday, June 19, 2008 (Islamabad)
A routine Pakistani patrol was attacked by unknown assailants on Thursday along the heavily guarded frontier dividing Kashmir between Pakistan and India, and two soldiers were killed, the Pakistani military said.

Maj Gen Athar Abbas said Indian soldiers did not appear to be the source of the attack, and instead blamed ''miscreants,'' an apparent reference to Islamic militants.

Kashmir is split between India and Pakistan, which both claim the whole region and have fought two of their three wars over it. It was not clear why Islamic militants in the area, who have been fighting to drive out India, would attack Muslim-majority Pakistan.

Lt Col Shantanu Dass Goswami, an Indian army spokesman, said Indian and Pakistani troops both fired at the attackers, who he said were attempting to infiltrate the Indian side from Pakistan. The fighting lasted about five hours, he said.

''There was an information sharing from both the sides to zero in on the militants,'' Goswami said.

Abbas said the attack took place near the village of Battal along the Line of Control, the cease-fire line that serves as a de facto border separating India's portion of Kashmir from Pakistan's.

The assailants attacked the patrol from a wooded area along the frontier, killing two and critically wounding two others, he said.

''It seems that some miscreants hiding in that wooded area attacked the patrol,'' he said.

A rescue party came under fire as well, Abbas said.

Last week, India said Islamic rebels ambushed an army vehicle and killed five soldiers on its side of the frontier.

The rebels have been fighting since 1989 to win Kashmir's independence or have the Indian-controlled portion of the predominantly Muslim region merged with Pakistan. More than 68,000 people, most of them civilians, have died since the start of the rebellion.

NDTV.com: Pak patrol in Azad Kashmir ambushed, 2 killed

 

[vish]

According to the Hindu, it is a blue-on-blue (militant-on-PA regular).

According to NDTV, the militants were hunted down together by PA and IA. In this case the incident is red-on-blue (militant-on-PA regular).

For once I hope that the NDTV is right.

 

[EagleEyes]

Kashmiri jehadists are not fighting for separation from Pakistan imo, they want to convert Pakistan into an islamic state.

The PA was their facilitator for kashmiri jehad. The moment they stopped helping them, they became the enemy.

Thats an assumption. Not true.

 

[EagleEyes]

really? so if you are a kashmiri who wants kashmir to be independant, how would you see azad kashmir and the pakistani forces there?

i am not saying that these militants are pro-india. rather they are probably ones who hate both india and pakistan.

It is unlikely thats what happened.

More news will prove it.

There is no insurgency in Azad Kashmir.

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

Whodunnit? Officer claims Pak tip-off on militants

MUZAFFAR RAINA

Srinagar, June 19: A defence spokesman in Jammu today claimed the army had foiled an infiltration bid from across the Line of Control after receiving a tip-off from Pakistani troops, the first time such information has been shared by forces of the two countries.

“The field commander of the Pakistani unit shared information with our commander that a group of militants was infiltrating to this side in the Krishna Gati sector. An operation was subsequently launched,” said Lt Colonel S.D. Goswami, the defence spokesman in Jammu.

Lt Col Goswami said a group of three to four militants was engaged in an encounter from 12.15pm today in Poonch district of Jammu. “The intermittent firing continued till 5.30pm and resumed in the evening.”

A military source said the encounter dragged on as the heavily armed militants had taken positions in the alleys, making it difficult for the army to locate them. Unconfirmed reports said four militants had been killed.

Lt Col Goswami, however, refused to say how and through what channel the tip-off was passed on.

But another officer said the information was shared on hotline between officials of the two countries based in Delhi and Islamabad. Only the directors-general of military operations of the two countries are connected by hotline.

A source in the army headquarters in Delhi, where the DGMO has his office, said there was no “advance information”.

“Our troops fired on them (the militants). They took cover and retreated, possibly back into ***. There was also intermittent small arms fire on our troops from across the LoC. We cannot say it is a ceasefire violation because we cannot ascertain that it was from a Pakistani Army post. However, we will say that there was no advance information, no tip-off, no joint operation to foil an infiltration bid,” the source said.

Political sources said the “advance information”, which comes months after the People’s Party government took over the reins in Islamabad, could be part of Pakistan’s attempt to ease tensions along the frontline after being accused by India in the last few weeks of violating the 2003 ceasefire.

On May 19, the Indian Army blamed Pakistani troops for violating the ceasefire by killing a soldier. It was the first casualty as a result of direct Pakistani attack in at least a year.

The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Frontpage | Whodunnit? Officer claims Pak tip-off on militants

Interesting, what?

I am sure the narrowing the gap between India and Pakistan will cause heartburns to those who reap rich harvests by fanning enmity between the two nations!

The nations have changed. 1947 is history, It is an era of peaceful coexistence!!

 

[Flintlock]

Its a great step! I hope this cooperation continues.

I hope it ushers in a new era of cooperatio.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Let me make this clear.

Pakistan does not sponsor terrorism, nor has it ever.

If any one need to discuss its support for militants/Freedom fighters/Insurgents etc,. go ahead.

The discussion on Pakistani support for militants can be conducted without resorting to inflammatory statements like "sponsoring terrorism". The argument can be conducted with civility and any point can be made without resorting to such statements.

We are having way to many threads getting derailed over inflammatory comments like these that can be easily avoided.

The fact is that India takes exception to Pakistani support for militants in Kashmir - that is what it believes is constraining relations, and such a statement conveys the sentiment perfectly fine.

If the report is true, then it may be a good step towards building confidence and then towards finding some resolution to the Kashmir dispute acceptable to all sides.

 

[Energon]

If the open line of communication were to be a common practice between the two armed forces on the border, Kashmir can be pacified really fast. I think many in the GoP and Pak military realize that there is absolutely no advantage in letting any militants operate from or seek refuge in Pakistan (with or without approval).

By sharing intelligence there are also lesser chances of miscommunication related incidences and/or friendly fire episodes which create a lot of tension between the soldiers guarding the borders on either side of the fence. And if these intelligence reports are in fact very good, then the GoI should start looking into financial reimbursement schemes.