Pakistan fires at troops trying to rescue porters
Violating the truce, Pakistani troops on Monday fired at Indian soldiers while they were trying to evacuate two porters who were wounded in a blast, triggered by suspected militants, along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district.
Targeting Army’s civilian porters, ultras detonated an IED while they were carrying supplies from one Army post to another in Sabzian-Mandi belt along the LoC at around 8 am, an Army officer said.
Two porters were wounded, one of them critically, and a pony was killed in the blast, he said.
Unconfirmed reports said four porters were wounded in the IED blast.
When soldiers rushed to the scene to evacuate the injured porters, militants detonated another IED at around 1 pm, the officer said.
This was followed by firing from Pakistani troops on the soldiers which was a violation of the ceasefire, he said.
“Our troops managed to shift one of the two porters to a nearby hospital while the other one is still lying there,” the officer said.
Indian troops also fired back, he said adding the intermittent firing from across the border was still on.
There was no loss of life or injury to anyone in the second IED explosion and firing from across the border, the officer said.
This was the second attack on porters in Poonch sector within a span of two months. In May, porters were intercepted and assaulted by some Border Action Team (BAT) personnel from across the border who also snatched supplies from them.
Last week, the Army had foiled an infiltration attempt by a group of militants who were provided cover fire by Pak troops in Poonch district.
Earlier in July, a Pakistani intruder, trying to cross over to India, was killed when the IED he was carrying went off.
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