Pakistan raises white flag to retrieve bodies of soldiers along LoC
Amid heavy cross-border firing along the Line of Control, the Pakistani army was forced to raise the white flag to retrieve bodies of two of its soldiers in the Hajipir sector on Friday.
The Indian Army on Saturday released a video that showed Pakistani military personnel retrieving the bodies under the cover of the white flag. Pakistani sepoy Ghulam Rasool of the Punjab Regiment, a “Punjabi Muslim who belonged to Bahawalnagar”, was first killed in the Hajipir sector in cross-border firing on September 10-11.
“Initially, Pakistani soldiers belonging to Punjab Regiment tried to retrieve the body under the cover of intense firing at our forward posts but were unable to do so despite repeated attempts. Another Pakistani army soldier was killed in the process,” said an officer.
Then, on Friday, the Pakistani army raised the white flag for temporary cessation of firing. “We respect the dead and permitted the Pakistanis to retrieve the bodies,” said the officer.
The Army said the Pakistani side had earlier refused to take back the bodies of the five to seven intruders who were killed during an operation by a Border Action Team team on the intervening night of July 31-August 1.
The 778-km long LoC has turned volatile ever since the Indian government’s decided to revoke the special status of Jammu & Kashmir under Article 370 and split the state into two Union territories on August 5. Over 350 ceasefire violations have been recorded in the last one and a half months.
“The Pakistani army is trying to internationalise the Kashmir issue, while also trying to push as many militants as possible across the LoC as well as stepping up ceasefire violations,” said the officer.
The ceasefire violations both north and south of the Pir Panjal mountain ranges have already crossed 2,020 this year, while the figure stood at 1,629 for the entire year in 2018.
Moreover, the ceasefire violations have witnessed a caliber escalation, with artillery guns and heavy mortars coming into play, causing casualties on both sides in several cases.
