Heavy exchange of gunfire in Uri in Kashmir, army posts attacked

Mangalore Today/CNN-IBN

Srinagar, Aug 7: Two Pakistani soldiers have been wounded - or possibly killed - in an exchange of machine gun fire between Indian and Pakistani troops in the Uri sector of northern Kashmir.
 
The Indian Army has reported heavy ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops in the sector on Tuesday afternoon, hours after five Indian soldiers were killed by about 20 heavily armed Pakistani soldiers and terrorists who crossed the border in Poonch, 200 km from Srinagar.

 

 
Army sources said Pakistan opened indiscriminate fire on three Indian posts in Kamal Kote area of the Uri sector in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir yesterday afternoon. In the firing, that lasted nearly one hour, there were no casualties on the Indian side.
 
On the intervening night between Monday and Tuesday, five Indian jawans were ambushed and killed; a sixth managed to escape with serious injuries and is now in hospital.

Repeated ceasefire violation by Pakistan is threatening to derail the resumption of peace talks between the two countries. Bilateral ties have been at a low especially since January when an Indian soldier was beheaded at teh border by Pakistani soldiers.
 
Pakistan has proposed a high-level meeting with Indian officials to restart the dialogue process. New Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made improving trade with India a central plank of his campaign. But with elections looming in India, many are questioning whether the incumbent government can make concessions without being painted as weak by the opposition, which has slammed it for what it calls a soft policy on the issue.

 

LoC killings: Martyr Vijay Kumar’s family refuses compensation


Patna: Martyred sepoy Vijay Kumar Rai’s family has refused to accept Bihar government’s compensation of Rs 10 lakh and instead demanded strong action against Pakistan for killing him and four other soldiers in an ambush at the Line of Control in Chakan-Da-Bagh sector of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir.

 

The family members refused to accept the cheque when Bihar state officials went to Rai’s house on Wednesday afternoon. His wife asked the government officials to leave the house. Rai was a resident of Danapur, near Bihar’s capital Patna, which is the headquarters of Bihar Regimental Centre.

Rai, a soldier of 21 Bihar Regiment, was on a border domination patrol along with five others when his team was ambushed by Pakistani troops and terrorists. While five soldiers were killed in the ensuing gunfight, one soldier was injured and is undergoing treatment.

The other slain soldiers from Bihar are Naik Prem Nath, Lance Naik Shambhu Sharan and Sepoy Raghunandan Prasad while the fifth soldier Naik Kundalik Mane belonged to 14 Maratha Light Infantry.

The bodies will then be taken to the native villages of the soldiers. Nitish Kumar has already announced a state funeral for the four slain soldiers from Bihar.