Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Monday refuted Indian army claims that Pakistani soldiers had killed two members of an Indian army patrol on the Line of Control (LoC) and mutilated their bodies, saying Pakistani soldiers would never disrespect another soldier, even if they were Indian.
“Pakistan Army did not commit any ceasefire violation on the LoC or a BAT action in Buttal sector as alleged by India,” said the ISPR statement.
BAT refers to ‘Border Action Team’.
“Indian blame of mutilating Indian soldiers’ bodies are also false,” added the ISPR statement.
“Pakistan Army is a highly professional force and shall never disrespect a soldier even Indian,” the ISPR statement said in response to the allegations.
The Indian Army had earlier claimed that Pakistani forces fired rockets and mortars at two Indian posts along the LoC.
“In a unsoldierly act by the Pakistan Army the bodies of two of our soldiers in the patrol were mutilated,” the Indian Army claimed in a statement, adding that the “despicable act will be appropriately responded”.
The claim from the Indian side came via a tweet from the verified account of the Indian Army’s Additional Directorate General of Public Information.
The two armies have been facing off for decades across the LoC, an old ceasefire line through the region that both countries claim in full but rule in part.
Tense relations
The two countries have once again locked horns over the Kashmir issue after Indian forces stepped up a crackdown against protesters in held Kashmir after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed by Indian forces in July.
Tensions simmered between Pakistan and India over the issue, with incidents of cross-border firing reported with frequency since the last months of 2016.
Pakistan maintains that India is attempting to divert the world’s attention away from the ‘atrocities’ committed by government forces in India-held Kashmir.
