The Pakistani army officials on Monday admitted that seven of their soldiers had been killed in firing by Indian troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, following which Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif asserted that the country is "fully capable" of defending its territory against "any aggression".
"Seven soldiers embraced 'shahadat' at the LoC in Bhimber sector in cross-fire LoC violation by Indian troops late last night," said the Inter-Services Public Relations, the army's media wing.
Sharif expressed grief over the loss of lives in the "latest violation of Line of Control (LoC) by the Indian forces" and said "it is extremely unfortunate that Indian forces have continuously violated ceasefire agreement at the LoC in the recent days", Press Information Department Pakistan said.
"We are fully capable of defending our soil against any aggression," it quoted Sharif as saying.
Pakistani authorities last week lodged protests with India and with the UN military observers over the targeting of civilian population by Indian troops.
According to the media reports, Indian army used heavy artillery firing to respond to unprovoked firing from Pakistan in the Bhimber sector along the Line of Control in Kashmir.
However, Indian Army maintained the fact that they are not targeting civilians across the border.
Since India carried out surgical strikes in Pakistan on September 29, cross-border firing has escalated significantly. Pakistan had been firing 120 mm heavy mortars to target Indian civilian areas, to which India had responded strongly.
Islamabad, however, denied that Indian troops crossed into Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir to target areas used to gather terrorists.
The cross-border raids took place days after Pakistani terrorists attacked an army base in Uri in Kashmir, leaving 19 soldiers dead.
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