Army kills 7 Pak soldiers, 5 JeM terrorists in J&K

Jammu/Srinagar: Seven Pakistani soldiers were killed on Monday in retaliatory firing by the Indian Army after a ceasefire violation in Jammu and Kashmir where an infiltration bid was also foiled with the elimination of five militants of Pakistan-based JeM, army officers said.

The army action came on a day when its chief Gen Bipin Rawat sent a stern message to Pakistan, saying it may escalate its offensive against terror groups and carry out the 'other action' if forced by the neighbouring country.

In his address to army personnel in Delhi to mark the Army Day today, the Army chief said Pakistan Army is continuously trying to help terrorists sneak into India along the Line of Control (LoC) in J and K.

"Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the LoC and resorted to shelling on forward posts in Jaglote belt in Mendhar sector(in Poonch district) early today," a senior Army officer said in Jammu.

Indian troops guarding the LoC took positions and targeted the Pakistani post involved in the ceasefire violation in Kotli by retaliatory action of heavy shelling, he said.

In the retaliation, seven Pakistani soldiers were killed and four other soldiers injured, the officer said, adding the dead included a Major.

The retaliation also comes after an Indian soldier was killed in Pakistan firing along the LoC in J and K's Rajouri district last Saturday.

The Pakistan Army, however, said it lost four of its soldiers in a cross-border firing by India across the LoC and claimed to have killed three Indian troops.

The Indian Army also foiled a major infiltration attempt by Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM) militants along the LoC in Uri sector in Kashmir, killing five members of the group's suicide squad, a senior army officer said in Srinagar.

The Army foiled the infiltration bid - the first such attempt this year - by the Pakistan-based outfit in an overnight operation that ended on Monday morning; Brigadier Y S Ahlawat told reporters in Uri, 100 km from Srinagar.