Indian army: 5 soldiers killed in Kashmir attack

Indian army on Monday claimed that Pakistan Border Action Team ambushed its patrol unit near the disputed boundary in Indian Administered Kashmir leaving five of its soldiers dead. Following the incident, Indian defense ministry condemned the killing of its five soldiers even though the Indian parliament expressed their outrage asking the government to come clear on the incident. On Tuesday morning, Army spokesman, S N Acharya said that an Indian Army patrol led by an Officer was ambushed by a Pakistan Border Action Team close to the Line of Control in Poonch Sector- some 141 miles north of Indian Administered Kashmir's winter capital, Jammu. "In the ensuing firefight, five Indian soldiers were killed," Acharya said. He claimed that the ambush was carried out by approximately 20 heavily armed men of Pakistan border action force comprising of militants and members of the Pakistan Army. The Indian army claimed that the attack on its soldiers was the direct outcome of the recent killing of 19 militants in the disputed Kashmir region by them in the months of July and August. The army claimed that Pakistan has committed 57 Cease Fire Violations this year along LOC, an 80% increase than previous years. The hundreds of miles long, Line of Control or LOC, which runs through treacherous mountains covered with snow and dense forests is a de-facto border dividing Kashmir into Indian and Pakistani parts. India and Pakistan have agreed in 2003 to observe a ceasefire along the international border and LoC in Kashmir. Since then the fragile ceasefire remains in effect between the two countries with occasional reports of its violation. The incident has come when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif are also slated to meet in New York next month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session. India has lodged a strong protest through diplomatic channels over the killing of five Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir, defence minister A K Antony said in Indian parliament. A K Antony said attack on Indian soldiers was carried out by 20 heavily-armed militants along with persons in Pakistan army uniform. "We strongly condemn the incident. The Indian Army is fully ready to tackle any such incident," Antony said. The Indian parliament also expressed its outrage over the incident. The spokesperson of the main opposition BJP, Ravi Shankar Prasad said government should come out with a clear-cut and firm response to the latest Pakistani attack which has become a weekly affair.