PAKISTAN has promised to take revenge for a devastating attack from India along the contested border known as the Line of Control (LoC) as tensions between the two South Asian nations flare, a retired soldier has claimed.
By
JOSEPH CAREY
PUBLISHED: 01:59, Tue, Feb 27, 2018UPDATED: 11:09, Tue, Feb 27, 2018
Fayaz Ahmad stated that announcements were made over loudspeakers on the Pakistan side of Balakote that have declared acts of “retaliation” will take place.
Mr Ahmad stated: “They said that India has killed many of our soldiers, we will take revenge for it after we bury our dead today. People are advised to take safety precautions.”
Another resident in the region, Naseer Ahmad, spoke of “bombs exploding” and bullets being fired in the midst of heavy shelling.
He declared: “All one could hear was the sound of bullets hitting tin or bombs exploding.
"The firing continued from morning till evening. We could see smoke from the hills around us.
“We are stressed. We don’t know what will happen when it will stop.”
Both sides have been engaged in violations to the ceasefire that is supposed to be in agreement along the contested border.
On Sunday New Delhi said that Pakistan had been “punished” for its “misadventure”, according to Brigadier Y.S Ahlawat of the Indian Army.
He went on: “In a befitting reply, the Indian Army has retaliated accurately with heavy fire on the Pakistani posts which were involved in ceasefire violations.”
Although India claimed that they were responding to aggression from Pakistan, an Indian resident in the area of the violation insisted that New Delhi started firing on its neighbour first.
They claimed: “The firing started from our side and then the Pakistanis also opened fire.
Both sides have been engaged in violations to the ceasefire that is supposed to be in agreement
“Now it’s irrelevant who did what, we are suffering.”
On Sunday a check post in a village named Silikote was unmanned on the Indian side that separates it from Pakistan territory, soldiers are typically in the area and ensure that those travelling through have identity cards.
Since February 22, the two South Asian nations have exchanged fire from both guns and mortars that have forced an estimated 2,600 residents in five villages to desperately flee areas of rising tensions.
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Loudspeakers on the Pakistan side of Balakote promised 'retaliation' towards India.India recently disclosed that it was forced to evacuate “over 36,000” people from other areas along its border as ceasefire violations between itself and its neighbour continue to mount.
The United Nations has issued a desperate plea to both New Delhi and Islamabad to negotiate an end to rising conflict.
Concerns for both sides have mounted in addition to fears that the chaos could lead to the outbreak of World War 3.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/worl...r-India-LoC-border-attack-New-Delhi-Islamabad
