Militants, men dressed in Pak army uniform carried out attack: Antony

 06 Aug 2013: Defence Minister A K Antony Tuesday said said the attack and killing of five Indian army men was carried out by militants along with persons dressed in Pakistan Army uniform and India will take all necessary steps to uphold the sanctity of the Line of Control (LoC). Making suo motu statement in both Houses of Parliament on this morning's incident, said the attack was carried out on the Indian side of the LoC. “An Indian army patrol, comprising one Non-Commissioned Officer and five other ranks, was ambushed on our side of the LoC in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir,” minister said in identical statements in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

                        He said the ambush was carried out by approximately 20 heavily-armed militants along with persons dressed in Pakistan army uniform.  In the ensuing firefight, five Indian army men were killed and one trooper injured," he said. Strongly condemning the "unprovoked incident", Antony said, "I assure the House that our army is fully ready to take all necessary steps to uphold the sanctity of LoC." He said Government of India (GoI) has lodged a strong protest with the Pakistan government through diplomatic channels. His statement came after members expressed anger over the incident and wanted to know how the government was responding to it. Antony said the number of infiltration attempts from Pakistan have doubled this year in comparison to the corresponding period of January 1 to August 5. There have also been 57 ceasefire violations this year which is 80 per cent more than the violations last year during the same period, the Defence Minister said.

                        He said the Indian Army successfully killed 19 hardcore militants in July and August along the LoC and in the hinterland in Jammu and Kashmir. “The effective counter infiltration grid on the LoC has ensured that 17 infiltration bids were foiled this year,” he added.

Source: http://www.risingkashmir.in/