NEW DELHI: Two days after four Indian soldiers were martyred on Saturday in a ceasefire violation by the Pakistan Army on the Line of Control, the Indian security forces on Monday killed three Pakistani soldiers along the LoC, Pakistani media reported.
Four Indian Army soldiers, including a Major, were killed on December 23 in a ceasefire violation by the Pakistan Army on the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district.
The officer killed has been identified as 32-year-old Major Moharkar Prafulla Ambadas of 120 Infantry Brigade, who hailed from Bhandara district of Maharashtra. He is survived by his wife Avoli Moharkar.
Other soldiers killed were 34-year-old Lance Naik Gurmail Singh from Amritsar, Punjab, who is survived by his wife Kuljit Kaur and a daughter, and 30 year-old Sepoy Pargat Singh of Karnal, Haryana who is survived by his wife Ramanpreet Kaur and a son.
The Army, in a statement, had said that Indian troops retaliated "strongly and effectively" to the "unprovoked" firing.
Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh paid rich tributes to the slain soldiers and condemned Pakistan for the ceasefire violation.
"Pakistan is a terrorist state and it will not be too long before the country is declared a terrorist state by the world. It does not only support terrorism but also provide state sponsorship," Singh said.
Ceasefire violation incidents in 2017
According to information given to Parliament by the government, 771 ceasefire violations were reported on the LoC up to December 10 this year and 110 on the International Border till November 30.
A total of 30 people - 12 civilians, 14 Army personnel and four Border Security Force (BSF) personnel - were killed in these ceasefire violations.
Ceasefire violations on the LoC, under operational control of Army, this year were threefold higher compared to 228 in 2016. There were 152 ceasefire violations in 2015 and 153 in 2014 on the LoC.
However, there was a steep decline in ceasefire violations on the IB, manned by BSF, compared to 221 incidents in 2016. A total of 253 ceasefire violation were reported on the IB in 2015 and 430 in 2014.
India shares a 3,323 km long border with Pakistan, of which 221 km of the IB and 740 km of the LoC fall in Jammu and Kashmir.
