New Delhi: Congress Chairperson Sonia Gandhi condemned the killing of five Indian soldiers by the Pakistani intruders along the Line of Control (LoC) on Monday night. "Indian nation cannot be cowed down by such blatant acts of deceit," said Sonia. She has urged the government to take appropriate measures while sending condolences to the family of the martyrs.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi said that he was shocked and dismayed at the killing of the Indian soldiers. "I want this provocative act to be taken to the highest level," he said.
Five Indian soldiers have been killed in a Pakistani attack on an Indian Army post along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir. The five soldiers belonging to the 21st Battalion of the Bihar Regiment included a subedar and four jawans.
A group of 10-12 soldiers of 21st Battalion of the Bihar Regiment, which is deployed in the sector, were patrolling the border on Monday night when they were ambushed at Chakan da Bagh by 15-16 Pakistani intruders which included terrorists as well as soldiers of the Pakistani Army. The Pakistani soldiers entered the Indian side of the LoC and ambushed an Indian post called Sarla late on Monday night.
The Indian soldiers were on a border domination exercise when they were fired upon at around midnight.
"Last night we heard the sound of firing almost all night. It also rained in the night. We knew something had gone wrong," said Mohammad Fazl, a villager from near the LoC.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh make a statement in Parliament, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla called it an "unfortunate incident".
Major General (Retd) Afsir Karim said that the Pakistani Army always carries out such attacks after careful planning. "Only indulging in talks will not help. An attack should be answered with an attack and those involved in such acts should be vanquished," said the former Army officer.
In January a group of Pakistan Army soldiers had raided across the LoC in Mendhar sector and killed two Indian soldiers after attacking an area domination patrol party of the Indian Army. In the ensuing gunfight two Indian soldiers were killed and the head of one of them cut off by the intruders.
There were 93 ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir in 2012, taking the total number since 2010 to 188, Parliament was told Monday. While two Army personnel were killed during these violations in 2010, one was killed in 2012.
In the recent weeks Pakistan has indicated that it wants to resume the dialogue process with India. But the latest attack is likely to cast a shadow on the resumption of the Indo-Pak dialogue process. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif are slated to meet in New York in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session.
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