For the 11th consecutive day on Monday, the Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked small arms firing at Indian positions along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Army responded promptly and proportionately, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.
“During the night of May 4–5, 2025, Pakistan Army posts initiated unprovoked small arms fire across the LoC in areas opposite Kupwara, Baramulla, Poonch, Rajouri, Mendhar, Naushera, Sunderbani, and Akhnoor in J&K,” the statement said. Indian troops retaliated effectively in all sectors.
This marks the continuation of cross-border aggression that also occurred the previous night, May 3–4, in the same sectors, to which the Indian Army had similarly responded with strength.
Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated following the brutal Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, in which 26 civilians — including 25 tourists and one local resident — were killed in the Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam. The incident sparked nationwide outrage.
Reacting to the attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that those responsible — including the terrorists, their handlers, and backers — would be pursued and eliminated “to the ends of the earth.”
In response, India introduced several retaliatory measures against Pakistan. These included the deportation of Pakistani nationals from Indian territory, closure of the Attari-Wagah border, suspension of the Indus Water Treaty, airspace restrictions for Pakistani commercial flights, and the cancellation of all trade and cultural exchanges.
PM Modi also granted operational freedom to the armed forces to take necessary action in response to the Pahalgam attack. The decision followed a high-level security review meeting involving the Prime Minister, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, and the three service chiefs.
Defence Minister Singh had a 40-minute one-on-one meeting with the Prime Minister on April 28, after receiving a detailed briefing from the CDS on the preparedness of the armed forces.
J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha also held a security review meeting with Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi in Srinagar, instructing the Army to use all necessary force to eliminate the perpetrators of the Pahalgam terror attack.
In a strong message to terrorists, their overground workers (OGWs), and sympathisers, security forces have launched an aggressive crackdown. On April 25, houses belonging to Adil Hussain Thokar and Asif Sheikh — two terrorists involved in the Pahalgam killings — were demolished in Tral and Bijbehara, respectively.
So far, security forces have demolished the residences of 10 terrorists who remain active in the Kashmir Valley.
On April 28, the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly unanimously passed a resolution condemning the heinous terror attack in Pahalgam.
—IANS
