Five Indian soldiers were killed in another incursion by the Pakistani army along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday night.
J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah confirmed the news on micro-blogging site Twitter saying, "Was briefed early this morning about news that 5 of our soldiers had been killed on the LOC." He expressed his condolences to their next of kin.
According to reports, Pakistani soldiers crossed the LoC late last night and ambushed the Army Demolition Patrol in Chakandabad Bagh area of Poonch district.
The Ministry of Home Affairs is yet to react to the news but NDTV reported that "New Delhi is taking a serious view of the attack."
Omar Abdullah condemned the attack saying, "These incidents don't help efforts to normalise or even improve relations with Pak and call in to question the Pak Govt's recent overtures."
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi called it a dastardly ambush. "Dastardly ambush by Pakistan last night in the Chakan da Bagh area of Poonch leading to death of 5 Indian Soldiers is unacceptable," he posted on Twitter.
On the other hand, Pakistani officials denied any involvement of its troops in the firing. "There was no indiscriminate firing from our side," one security official told Reuters.
Another official said there was no cross-firing between the troops on the border region that night.
This is the second attack within just two weeks at an Indian post in Poonch. Pakistani troops violated ceasefire on 27 July by launching heavy weapon firing at an Indian post in the Kerni area of Poonch.
It was the fifth time in a month that the Pakistani army indulged in heavy firing at an Indian post. "Pakistani troops have targeted Indian posts by firing rocket projectile grenades (RPGs) and heavy machine guns along LoC in Doda Battalion forward area in Poonch district since 0730 hours today," a senior Army officer had told the Press Trust of India.
With Pakistani troops as well as Chinese soldiers indulging in repeated incursions on Indian territory, the issue is likely to be taken up by the Opposition during this monsoon session of Parliament.
