Troops trade fire near Sialkot

Published January 20, 2002

ISLAMABAD, Jan 19: Pakistani and Indian troops traded heavy fire across their tense border along Pakistan’s central province of Punjab, witnesses said on Saturday.

“There has been intense firing throughout the night,” a witness in the Pakistani border town of Sialkot said.

He said Indian forces fired mortars into the Bajwat sector, about 30km from Sialkot, and the Pakistani forces returned fire. There was no immediate word about casualties.

An Indian defence spokesman in Jammu town, which lies across the border from Sialkot and is the winter capital of Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir state, denied the incident.

“There has been absolutely no firing or shelling on the Line of Control or the international border through last night and until now,” the spokesman told Reuters in Jammu.

“There is no substance in the report. It is baseless.”

The Pakistani and Indian armies have been exchanging fire almost daily since tensions surged after a deadly Dec 13 attack on the Indian parliament, which New Delhi has blamed on Pakistan-based militants fighting Indian rule in Kashmir. Pakistan condemned the attack.

The nuclear-armed neighbours, which have fought three wars since independence in 1947, have massed hundreds of thousands of troops to their common border since the parliament attack.

Police in Azad Kashmir reported no firing for a third consecutive night along a ceasefire line separating the two armies in the disputed Himalayan region.—Reuters

Opinion

Editorial

‘Source of terror’
Updated 29 Mar, 2024

‘Source of terror’

It is clear that going after militant groups inside Afghanistan unilaterally presents its own set of difficulties.
Chipping in
29 Mar, 2024

Chipping in

FEDERAL infrastructure development schemes are located in the provinces. Most such projects — for instance,...
Toxic emitters
29 Mar, 2024

Toxic emitters

IT is concerning to note that dozens of industries have been violating environmental laws in and around Islamabad....
Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...