Can anyone say.....the timing couldn't be worse? An exchange of fire today occurred along the India/Pakistan border between troops on both sides and the result was two Indian troops killed and at least one Pakistani troop wounded.
From the article at DAWN:
From the article at DAWN:
An exchange of fire at the Indian-Pakistan border near Pakistan's Punjab province has killed two Indian troops, and wounded a Pakistani soldier and several villagers, officials said on Wednesday.Not surprisingly, both sides are pointing the finger at the other for starting this but as I mentioned earlier, the timing pretty much sucks. There have been some overtures lately for the Indians and Pakistanis to have some talks - an amazing thing to consider since the memory of Mumbai is still pretty fresh. Whether this outbreak will derail that is yet to be seen but two dead Indian troops isn't going to help the cause one bit.
A spokesman for the Pakistan Rangers said Indian border security forces fired automatic weapons and mortars at a village along the Sialkot working boundary, north of the Pakistani city of Lahore.
“First they fired yesterday morning and then again in the evening and the firing continued sporadically throughout the night until Wednesday morning,” said Nadeem Raza.
“One of our soldiers and several villagers have been wounded in the Indian firing.”
A senior Indian border official confirmed the incident but said Indian forces retaliated for “unprovoked firing” from the Pakistani side.
Exchange of fire reported at India-Pakistan border
ISLAMABAD: An exchange of fire at the Indian-Pakistan border near Pakistan's Punjab province has killed two Indian troops, and wounded a Pakistani soldier and several villagers, officials said on Wednesday.
The neighbours have in the past exchanged almost daily fire across what is known as the Line of Control separating the two armies in Kashmir, but the latest incident occurred in the Sialkot sector of Pakistan which rarely experiences trouble.
A spokesman for the Pakistan Rangers said Indian border security forces fired automatic weapons and mortars at a village along the Sialkot working boundary, north of the Pakistani city of Lahore.
“First they fired yesterday morning and then again in the evening and the firing continued sporadically throughout the night until Wednesday morning,” said Nadeem Raza.
“One of our soldiers and several villagers have been wounded in the Indian firing.”
A senior Indian border official confirmed the incident but said Indian forces retaliated for “unprovoked firing” from the Pakistani side.
“We were facing unprovoked firing from the Pakistani side for the last two days, resulting in the death of two of our men. We were forced to retaliate,” said K. Srinivasan.
“The firing was precise, but at this stage we cannot say for sure who fired at us,” he added.
Raza said Pakistani forces returned fire after Indian forces “did not respond to the call for a flag-meeting” and continued firing. He said it was the third violation of a ceasefire in that area in a month. – Reuters
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