In the first incursion on the Line of Control after the 1999 Kargil war, a group of 10-12 Pakistani soldiers, holding a white flag, crossed into Kupwara and shot dead an Indian jawan this afternoon after an argument over an Indian counter-insurgency surveillance post.While there have been a series of cross-border firing incidents in the past few weeks, including an episode on June 19 that left four Pakistani soldiers dead, this is the first time that troops came more than 100 metres into Indian territory and opened fire at an Army post.“There have been ceasefire violations in the past but this is the first time since the Kargil operations that Pakistani soldiers have come on this side of the LoC,” Army spokesperson Lt Col AK Mathur said.There were reports that four Pak soldiers were also killed in the gunbattle and their bodies were still lying near the LoC. Until late night, firing was still on in the area and the body of the Indian jawan was yet to be recovered, Army sources said.India has called for an immediate battalion-level flag meeting to sort out the issue. Army officers said that just after 3.30 pm, a group of 10-12 Pakistani soldiers, holding a white flag, crossed the border at Khayan area of Nowgam sector and approached an Indian counter-insurgency surveillance post.“The Pakistani soldiers yelled at the sentry to dismantle the post and said that they wanted to speak to the company commander. After a verbal duel, one of them shot at our post and hit a jawan,” an Army officer said. In the gunbattle that followed, the Pak soldiers were pushed back to their side of the LoC. They then started firing at Indian posts from their bunkers. “After firing, the Pakistani soldiers crossed back started firing at our positions again. We retaliated,” Lt Col Mathur said. Army officials said that body of the Indian jawan identified as Sepoy Mahesh from the 22 Rajput regiment, fell into a nullah.
