Army pounds terror camps along LoC

New Delhi : In a major counter-offensive after Pakistan's unprovoked firing, the Indian Army on Sunday carried out heavy artillery strikes targeting four terror launch pads and several Pakistani military positions in Neelam Valley in PoK, killing 6 to 10 of their soldiers and as many terrorists, according to Army Chief Bipin Rawat.

The Indian retaliation came a day after Pakistan military resorted to firing in Tangadhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir along the Line of Control to assist infiltration by terrorists, killing two Indian Army personnel and a civilian.

Three others were also injured in the attack. A highly-placed source, meanwhile, said at least 20 terrorists were killed in the Indian artillery fire, adding the figure may be quite high.

The retaliation has caused substantial harm to the terrorist infrastructure across the Line of Control (LoC), Rawat told reporters on the sidelines of an event.

"So far, as per the information available with us, 6-10 Pakistani soldiers have been killed and nearly as many terrorists," the Army Chief said, adding that more information on terrorist casualty was being obtained.

"Three terror camps have been destroyed and on the fourth one also, we have caused severe damage," he said.

If Pakistan continued with such activities, the Indian Army would not hesitate to retaliate, the Army chief asserted.

The sources said the four terror launch pads were in Neelam Valley, opposite the Tangdhar sector, and that 10-15 terrorists were staying in each of the facilities at the time of the attack, the most significant offensive since India carried out the Balakot strike in February.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to the Army Chief following the Indian offensive and he has been keeping an eye on the evolving situation along the LoC, government sources said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal denied that the Indian Army targeted terror camps in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and said it can arrange a visit of diplomats from P5 nations to the area to expose Indian "falsehood".

Spokesperson of Pakistan Military Major General Asif Ghafoor, in a series of tweets, claimed a total of five Pakistani civilians were killed in the Indian strikes.

Pakistan also summoned Indian envoy Gaurav Ahluwalia to condemn the firing by Indian troops. "Targeting innocent civilians by Indian Army is an attempt to justify their false claims of targeting alleged camps," Ghafoor alleged and also claimed that nine Indian soldiers killed and two Indian bunkers were destroyed by Pakistan Army.

A senior Indian Army official rejected Ghafoor's allegations and claim. In a statement, the Indian Army said Pakistani Army initiated unprovoked cease fire violations to assist infiltration by terrorists into Indian territories in the Tangadhar sector last evening.

"As a result calibrated escalation of area weapons was undertaken by the Indian side in which terrorist launch pads and several Pakistan Army posts giving incidental protection to these launch pads and certain gun positions were hit," it said.

It said Indian Army retains the right to respond at a time and place of its choosing in case Pakistan Army continues to assist terrorist activities across Indian borders. Rawat said, "Ever since the abrogation of special provisions (for Jammu and Kashmir), we are getting repeated inputs about infiltration by terrorists from across the border.

The sources said Pakistan has been trying to push terrorists into Kashmir to trigger unrest. Soon after government announced its decision to reorganise Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, the Army was put on high alert along the LoC to effectively repulse any possible Pakistani misadventure.

The sources said the pounding of Pakistani positions and terror camps cannot in any way be compared to surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army in September 2016 on terror launch pads across the Line of Control.