This Article is From Sep 15, 2019

Dramatic Video Shows Soldiers Detonating Unexploded Pak Mortar Shell

The shell had landed near a house in the Balakote area of Mendhar sector during cross-border shelling on Saturday.

Two soldiers are seen securing the site and triggering the detonation in J&K's Poonch.

Highlights

  • A 120-mm mortar shell fired by Pak forces was destroyed by Indian Army
  • The shell had landed near a house in Balakote area of Mendhar sector
  • Army experts rushed to the spot and destroyed the unexploded shell
New Delhi:

A 120-mm mortar shell, fired by Pakistani forces, was destroyed by the Indian Army in a village near the Line of Control or LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Sunday.

The shell had landed near a house in the Balakote area of Mendhar sector during cross-border shelling on Saturday and was noticed by some villagers, who informed the army, the officials said.

They said army experts immediately rushed to the spot and destroyed the unexploded shell safely.

A video of the operation released by the army showed two soldiers secure the site and trigger the detonation.

Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire by targeting forward posts and villages at several places, including Balakot, on Saturday, prompting strong retaliation from the Indian Army.

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The shell had landed near a house in the Balakote area of Mendhar sector.

At a news briefing on Sunday, the Ministry of External Affairs said that the Pakistani Army had violated the ceasefire more than 2,050 times this year without provocation in which 21 Indians have been killed.

India has repeatedly conveyed to Pakistan to ask its forces to adhere to the 2003 ceasefire understanding, it said.

"We have highlighted our concerns at unprovoked ceasefire violations by Pakistan forces, including in support of cross-border terrorist infiltration, and targeting of Indian civilians and border posts by them," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

Indian forces exercise maximum restraint and respond to unprovoked violations and attempts at cross border terrorist infiltration, he said.

His remarks come and heightened tension between India and Pakistan following the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir's special status and the bifurcation of the state into union territories.

On September 1, an army personnel was killed when Pakistani army targeted forward posts and villages in Shahpur-Kerni sector.

(With inputs from PTI)

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