The Indian Army on Tuesday apprehended a Pakistani national from near the Line of Control in Poonch district’s Chakkan Da Bagh area in Jammu and Kashmir. Officials from the Army confirmed the development and said the person was being questioned. The development comes against the backdrop of tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed the lives of 25 tourists and a local pony-wallah. Since then, the border has been on the boil, with Pakistan indulging in ceasefire violations on a daily basis, prompting the Indian side to retaliate. On Tuesday too, Pakistani troops continued unprovoked small arms fire all along the Line of Control from the Kupwara-Baramulla districts in Kashmir Valley to the Akhnoor sector in Jammu region. The cross-border firing, which initially started in a few sectors following the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty by India, has spread to the entire Line of Control in J&K since Saturday night. “During the night of May 5-6, Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked small-arms firing from posts across the Line of Control in areas opposite Kupwara, Baramulla, Poonch, Rajauri, Mendhar, Naushera, Sunderbani, and Akhnoor in J&K,” the Army said, adding that it responded in a “proportionate manner”. Spread of ceasefire violations As reported by The Indian Express, in the past, ceasefire violations typically remained restricted to one or two areas, before a period of calm was brought to J&K when India and Pakistan agreed to a renewed ceasefire along the LoC in February 2021. These were more frequent in the southern parts of the Pir Panjal range owing to the lay of the land, the geography of the area, among other factors, Army officers said. “The last few unprovoked firing incidents by Pakistan have simultaneously taken place all along the LoC in multiple sectors, both in the north and south of the Pir Panjal range, a slight departure from the past norms,” a source told The Indian Express.
