(HT)
Pakistani forces killed two Indian soldiers and mutilated their bodies after a targeted attack on frontier posts in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday morning — an act the army described as despicable and promised appropriate response. The slain soldiers were naib subedar Paramjit Singh, a junior commissioned officer (JCO) with the army’s 22 Sikh Regiment, and head constable Prem Sagar of the BSF’s 200 Battalion. The 42-year-old Singh was from a village in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district, while Sagar was a native of Deoria in Uttar Pradesh.
The government strongly condemns this barbaric act and the country has full confidence and faith in the armed forces, which will react appropriately, defence minister Arun Jaitley said. “This is a reprehensible and an inhuman act. Such attacks don’t happen even during a war, let alone peace … The sacrifice of these soldiers will not go in vain.”
The army’s northern command said the Pakistanis fired mortar shells, rocket-propelled grenades, and heavy machine guns at Indian posts in the Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district along the Line of Control, the de facto border between the two countries.The shelling provided cover fire to members of the Border Action Team (BAT) — allegedly made up of a mix of Pakistani army regulars and militants. They attacked a 10-man Indian patrol comprising soldiers from 22 Sikh Regiment and the BSF.
