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Indian Army kills 10 in attack on terrorist camp in Pakistan
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Indian Army has launched attacks on Pak Border Action Team (BAT) camps situated on Pak territory opposite the Tangdhar sector, killing at least 10 people.

The attack comes hours after the Indian military stated that two soldiers and one civilian had been killed as a result of an attack by the Paks on an area close to the Line of Control.
More from the Hindustan Times:
The Indian Army on Sunday mounted an artillery attack on at least four terror camps and Pakistani military positions across the Line of Control (LoC) in retaliation to ceasefire violations meant to assist infiltrators, killing at least six soldiers of the neighbouring country and inflicting heavy terrorist casualties, General Bipin Rawat said.

In the Indian firing by 155mm guns — the mainstay of the artillery firepower of the army — 6-10 Pakistani soldiers and about a dozen terrorists were killed in the Neelam Valley opposite the Tangdhar sector along the LoC, people with direct knowledge of the operation said. The artillery used in the Indian response has a range of 24-30km.

The counter-attack by India came after two Indian Army soldiers and a civilian were killed in unprovoked Pakistani firing on Saturday evening at Karnah in J&K’s Kupwara district, according to the army. Three others were also injured in the Pakistani firing that left one house, two cowsheds and a rice godown completely destroyed.

After the Indian action, Asif Ghafoor, the spokesperson for Pakistan’s armed forces, said that nine Indian soldiers were killed in its firing and two Indian bunkers were destroyed. He said that the Pakistani civilian casualties occurred in the Jura, Shahkot and Nousheri sectors, a claim rejected by India.

Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs also summoned Indian deputy high commissioner Gaurav Ahluwalia after the Indian Army’s retaliation.

The counter-offensive measures come weeks after multiple intelligence agencies warned the government that at least 60 terrorists have infiltrated into Jammu & Kashmir recently and another 500 are waiting to infiltrate, according to the army.

A recent document circulated among India’s intelligence agencies shows that Pakistan has eased restrictions on terror groups, including Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM). The intel shows that JeM and LeT have stepped up their recruitment drives in Pakistan’s tribal areas. The Pakistan establishment is also making efforts to deploy more Kashmiri-origin terrorists in India in a bid to show that militancy is a “local phenomenon”, according to the document. These groups are planning an attack in response to the Indian move on Article 370, intelligence suggests.

The window for infiltration of terrorists along the LoC closes with approaching winter. Sectors such as Gurez, Kargil, Machhil, Keran, Tangdhar, Uri are snowbound by November making it difficult for terrorists to cross over. And as the winter approaches, infiltrating terrorists shift their focus to the Jammu-Kathua area.

Intelligence inputs indicate that several terror launch pads across the LoC are active again. Almost seven months after the Balakot operation, JeM has revived its terror training complex in the region. Islamabad relaxed restrictions over terror groups targeting India after August 5.

Speaking about Sunday’s counter-offensive, former Director General of Military Operations Lieutenant General (retd) Vinod Bhatia said: “Besides the obvious tactical reasons of sending in terrorists, at the strategic level, Pakistan is also trying to signal to the global community that Kashmir issue is and will turn violent. It has got a breather from the FATF (Financial Action Task Force), which helps the Pakistan Army to create problems along the border.”

Lieutenant General Satish Dua (retd), who commanded the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps, said: “I think one can expect bigger misadventures from Pakistan, now that they have evaded the FATF for few months.”

Posted by: Fred 2019-10-21
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=553284