BSF kills 7 Pak Rangers, one terrorist in retaliatory firing

Sources said that since Wednesday night, the BSF’s posts had been targeted by snipers from across the border. A BSF constable named Gurnam Singh was hit by Pakistani fire on Friday morning in Kathua, about 90 km from Jammu. He was evacuated to Jammu while his colleagues provided cover with retaliatory firing at Pakistan. He is in critical condition in a Jammu hospital. A “befitting reply” was given by the border-guarding force, it said in a statement which stressed it as “an aggressive offensive.”

However, Pakistan has denied there have been any casualties on their side. The action comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told the Army that it has the right to respond forcefully to provocation and to attacks on soldiers.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti urged the police on Friday to try and bring back to their homes the “local boys” who have joined militancy instead of killing them in encounters. 

She also appealed to the police and security forces to refrain from using weapons like pellet guns while dealing with protests and instead “tolerate” stone-pelting as a “sacrifice”. She added that while the police had exhibited patience during the last three months of unrest in the Valley, there were some mistakes which warrant action. She also underlined that “black laws” like AFSPA would be repealed from the state only when the situation improves. “We all have to work together, heal the wounds of the people here. The children here are the responsibility of God first, then our police because it is they who see them every day, everywhere,” she said. “Those who have taken up arms or those who have not but are missing from their homes and want to join militancy, they are local boys. I request the police to try to bring them back to their homes. Instead of their being killed in encounters,” she added.