India says Pakistan killed two Indian soldiers in Kashmir and mutilated their bodies

SRINAGAR // The Indian army said two of its soldiers were killed and their bodies mutilated on Monday in an ambush by Pakistani soldiers along Kashmir’s highly militarised de facto border – a claim denied by Pakistan.

Separately, five police officials and two bank employees were killed in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Monday when suspected rebels ambushed a bank van, Indian police said.

In the incident involving the alleged killing of New Delhi soldiers, the Indian army said Pakistani soldiers fired rockets and mortars at two Indian positions south-west of the Line of Control that divides disputed Kashmir, in the Krishna Ghati sector.

It said Pakistani soldiers also ambushed an Indian patrol operating between the two posts and mutilated the bodies of two Indian soldiers.

The Indian army called the incident an “unprovoked” firing by Pakistani soldiers and said the “unsoldierly act” would be “appropriately responded”.

India’s defence minister Arun Jaitley, meanwhile, said the incident was “the handiwork of a neighbouring nation”.

“Such acts are unheard of even during wars and definitely never in peace time,” he said in a statement broadcast on Indian television.

“The entire country has full faith in the army that they will give the appropriate response.”

But the Pakistani army denied committing any ceasefire violation along the Line of Control, and said the Indian allegations were false.

“Pakistani army is a highly professional force and shall never disrespect a soldier, even an Indian,” it said.

In the past, both countries have accused each other of initiating border skirmishes leading to the deaths of soldiers and civilians on both sides.

Last year, Indian and Pakistani soldiers engaged in some of the worst fighting along the Line of Control since the two nations agreed to a ceasefire accord in 2003. India accused attackers from the Pakistani side of Kashmir of entering the Indian-held portion and mutilating the body of one of three killed Indian soldiers, leading to days of fighting along the frontier.

India and Pakistan have a long history of bitter relations over Kashmir, a Himalayan territory that is claimed by both countries.

The Line of Control is guarded by the Indian and Pakistani armies and divides the two parts of Kashmir. Each country also has a separate paramilitary border force guarding the lower-altitude frontier separating Indian-controlled Kashmir and the Pakistani province of Punjab.

In the southern Kulgam area of Indian-controlled Kashmir, meanwhile, suspected rebels ambushed and sprayed gunfire at a bank van, killing five police officials and two local bank employees, including a driver, said senior police officer Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani.

He said the police were guarding the van, which was returning to Kulgam after distributing cash to some bank branches.

Another police officer said the gunmen made off with cash and weapons.

In a statement to a local news agency, Kashmiri militant group Hizbul Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack and warned that more would follow.

In recent months, suspected militants have targeted a number of banks in the southern region of Indian-controlled Kashmir, where armed groups have been fighting against New Delhi’s rule since 1989.

Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the rebel uprising and a subsequent crackdown by the Indian military.

Indian-controlled Kashmir has been roiled by violence in recent months, with security forces opening fire on stone-throwing protesters.

Indian troops last week shot at a crowd of demonstrators outside an army garrison where militants had earlier killed three soldiers, hitting one civilian who later died.

* Associated Press, Agence France-Presse