50 terrorists tried to enter India under cover of Pakistani shelling on May 8: BSF
According to BSF Deputy Inspector General (DIG) SS Mand, Pakistan violated the ceasefire and used heavy firing to help the terrorists cross the International Border. DIG Mand told news agency ANI, "Our brave soldiers have inflicted great losses on them. We got intelligence that a large group is trying to infiltrate. We were ready for them and we detected them on 8 May."
'They were a group of 45-50 men... They were advancing to our location... We assessed the situation and since our scenario was war-gamed, we inflicted heavy bombardment on them,' he added.
Describing the incident in detail, Mand said, 'As expected, they retaliated with heavy fire from their posts... We opened up with heavy and accurate fire on them. That was a major factor. They were seen running away from their posts. We sorted them out in 1.5 hours."
He said that BSF officers were present at forward positions, which helped maintain high morale among the troops. He praised the dedication of women soldiers as well. 'We decimated their bunkers and degraded their fire capacity... Our jawans are still very energised and if the enemy takes any action again, we will retaliate with ten times more force... BSF has these clear orders," Mand added.
Speaking about women soldiers, he said, "Our women troops stood shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts, carrying out all duties effectively. We are truly proud of them."
In a related development, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, visited the Poonch Brigade headquarters on Wednesday. He met Army and BSF personnel stationed in the area.
Meanwhile, the BSF has resumed the Beating Retreat ceremony at three Joint Check Posts along the Punjab border — Attari-Wagah, Hussainiwala, and Sadqi. The daily flag-lowering event had been suspended on May 9 after the Pahalgam terror attack and the launch of Operation Sindoor. It is now open to the public again.
Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7 in response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people. Indian forces targeted terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, killing over 100 terrorists linked to groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen.
Following India's strikes, Pakistan responded with shelling along the Line of Control and border areas in Jammu and Kashmir, as well as drone attacks. India countered by damaging Pakistan's air defence, radar, and communication systems, and hit 11 of their airbases.
On May 10, a ceasefire understanding was reached aiming to stop military action on land, sea and in the air.
(With ANI inputs)
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