India carries out 'surgical strikes on militants'
Indian commandos have carried out a series of “surgical strikes” on suspected militants along the border with Pakistan in Kashmir.
Officials said the aim was to prevent attacks being planned on major Indian cities.
They said the strikes had caused “multiple casualties” – a claim denied by Pakistan, which has denounced them as “naked aggression”.
The move follows an attack on an Indian army base in Uri, Kashmir in which 18 troops were killed earlier this month.
Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, India’s director-general of military operations said: “Some terrorist teams had positioned themselves at launch pads along the Line of Control.
“The Indian army conducted surgical strikes last night on these launch pads.
“Significant casualties have been caused to these terrorists and those who are trying to support them.”
An Indian soldier guarding the army base at Uri
Lt Gen Singh said the strikes were launched after intelligence showed militants intended “to carry out infiltration and terrorist strikes in Jammu and Kashmir and various other metros” in India.
In a statement the Pakistani military described the strikes as a fabrication.
“The notion of surgical strike linked to alleged terrorists bases is an illusion being deliberately generated by India to create false effects,” it said.
“Pakistan has made it clear that if there is a surgical strike on Pakistani soil, same will be strongly responded.”
However, in another statement it said two of its soldiers died in “unprovoked firing on Line of Control in Bhimber, hotspring, Kel, and Lipa sectors”.
The Indian military is yet to give details of the strikes, although sources have said it carried out ground attacks on six to eight launch pads.
India has been on alert since the Uri attack
The latest violence is an escalation of the tension between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Since the attack on the camp in Uri on 18 September, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has come under increasing pressure to take retaliatory action.
In a speech at the UN General Assembly, India’s foreign minister Sushma Swaraj called on the world to isolate countries that arm, finance and facilitate terror organisations.
She accused Pakistan of allowing terror groups to use its soil for repeated attacks on Indian security forces and its people.
In turn Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif called on the Assembly to take notice of the human rights violations in Indian-administrated Kashmir.
The disputed territory has been divided between India and Pakistan since they gained independence from Britain seven decades ago.
The Indian-controlled part has a Muslim majority and there are a number of armed separatist groups who are fighting to break free from New Delhi.
India carries out "surgical strikes on militants"
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