Army commanders given full freedom to retaliate to firing by Pakistan; forces using coordinated fire assaults to reply to shelling

New Delhi: Full freedom has been given to locals commanders of the army along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir to effectively retaliate any act of violence by Pakistani troops, Army sources said on Thursday. They said the Indian Army has been inflicting heavy casualties to Pakistani troops while replying to Pakistani shelling along the LoC in the last few weeks. The local commanders now have been given full freedom to retaliate to any Pakistani misadventure, the army sources said, adding the Army is resorting to coordinated fire assaults in replying to any Pakistani shelling along the LoC. Following the attack on the Sunjuwan military station in Jammu, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman warning Pakistan had said the neighbouring country “will pay for its misadventure”. [caption id=“attachment_4310491” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] Six Army personnel and a civilian were killed in the terrorist attack on the Sunjuwan military station. The attack on the camp came days after four Army men were killed in Pakistani firing in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir. On his return from a three-day trip to Nepal, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat was given a detailed briefing about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. The Army sources claimed that a total of 20 Pakistani Army personnel were killed this year while the number was 138 in 2017. The sources said senior commanders of Pakistan Army have been frequently visiting Pakistani posts in the last few weeks in the wake of aggressive response by India to Pakistani actions. They said Pakistan has increased the alert levels at all its posts along the LoC due to Indian actions. “We are inflicting heavy pain on Pakistani side,” said an army official.