Pakistani army officials deny the claim, saying that they suffered no casualties.
Pakistani Rangers, of which seven were killed today. Credit: Reuters
Jammu: Border Security Force (BSF) officials, on Friday, said that the BSF had killed seven Pakistani Rangers and a terrorist while retaliating to a ceasefire violation on the international border in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir. During the ceasefire violation, one BSF jawan was injured.
Pakistan Rangers, the border force of Pakistan, resorted to sniper attacks at Indian posts at Hira Nagar in Kathua at around 9.35 AM, BSF said. The Indian border guarding force launched an aggressive offensive against the Pakistani firing, BSF said in a release, adding seven rangers and a terrorist were shot dead in the retaliatory firing.
Seeking to suggest that the killings had been corroborated by Pakistani media, the BSF said “source input” claimed that a media organisation in that country was running a news item about death of 5 rangers. The strong response by the BSF came after one of Constables Gurnam Singh was injured in a sniper fire attack by Pakistani Rangers this morning in the same area.
Singh, whose condition is considered to be critical, was evacuated with the cover fire to Government Medical College, Jammu. This firing from Pakistan was effectively retaliated and that has claimed the casualties of Pakistani forces, the release said.
Pakistani response
Pakistani army officials, however, denied that its side had incurred any casualties. In a series of tweets, Pakistani lieutenant general Asim Saleem Bajwa, who heads the Pakistani military’s media division, ISPR, said that “Indians had resorted to unprovoked fire/shelling” and that the “Indian claim of hitting or killing any Pakistani soldier/Ranger” was absolutely false.