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Pakistan fires rockets into India
Amritsar, January 9 Initially, it was rumoured that six to seven rockets were fired into the Indian territory from the Pakistani side, but the BSF authorities were able to detect only two craters and some remnants in the fields of Atalgarh and Modhe villages, situated at about 3.5 km from the international border. Residents of Modhe and Atalgarh villages shuddered with fear as they heard blast sounds followed by thuds between 12.10 am and 12.20 am and presumed that the sounds were of rocket firing. Their fears proved true as the BSF personnel, who launched a search operation immediately, found two craters and shrapnel of two rockets in the fields. There was, however, no damage to life and property as the rockets failed to explode. To retaliate, the BSF personnel opened machine-gun fire. A Commandant-level meeting was convened immediately after the attack. “We have lodged our protest with the Rangers and they have been told that such incidents will not be tolerated in future. They have assured us of conducting an investigation into the incident even as they have denied their involvement,” said BSF Inspector-General Himmat Singh, while talking to The Tribune. Akin to the September firing, remnants of shells at one of two villages have indicated that these were that of a 170 mm rocket. “Such rockets have landed in the hands of terrorists and were in use in a number of countries. We are going to subject the recovered material to laboratory examination. These may not have necessarily been fired from a mortar, but from an improvised device,” revealed Himmat Singh. The 170 mm rocket shells, it was learnt, were manufactured in a number of countries, including China.
Infiltration bid foiled in J&K Jammu, January 9 However, following a brief exchange of automatic fire between the armed militants and the BSF troopers, the latter foiled the intrusion bid. Desperate to fuel militancy in the state, six armed militants today tried to intrude into the Indian Territory in the Pargwal sector of the Akhnoor subdivision, said official sources. The incident happened around 3.30 am today at Sidharwa BOP in Pargwal sector. The sources said, around 3.15 am, three BSF jawans noticed some suspicious movement near the Sidharwa post and when they reached the spot they saw that some infiltrators were trying to breach the fence. The militants had cut six to seven wires on other side of the barbed fence. The jawans immediately challenged the intruders, who in turn opened fire, they said, adding that hearing gunshots, other BSF jawans rushed to the area and opened fire. The gun battle continued for about 15 minutes forcing the militants to beat a hasty retreat, they added. “Though the intruders did manage to cut some wires of the barbed fence on their side, they did not succeed in cutting wires on our side,” IG BSF Jammu Frontier AK Surollia told The Tribune. “Our soldiers guarding the post did a splendid job and they successfully foiled the infiltration bid,” added Surollia. Giving further details, DIG BSF JB Sangwan said the intruders, who were five to seven in numbers, had cut three wires on their side of the fence, but the BSF troopers guarding the border challenged them and foiled the bid after a brief exchange of automatic fire for about 15 minutes. After being pushed back, the infiltrators had taken position behind an embankment on their side and then they fled back, he added. He, however, neither confirmed nor denied ceasefire violation by the Pak Rangers. It was foggy and dark and hence, we could not be sure about the involvement of the Pak Rangers in the incident, he said. Later, search of the area led to recovery of empty cartridges. The sources said, the BSF has also put in place a system that alerts it, whenever someone tries to damage the fence. |
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