With 3,200 ceasefire violations in 2019, border hostilities with Pak at 15-year high

New Delhi – India has recorded as many as 3,200 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control with Pakistan in 2019, with the two rival armies continuing to pound each other with heavy-caliber weapons like artillery guns and anti-tank guided missiles daily.

“The cross-border hostilities are continuing all along the 778-km LoC, with the exchange of firing particularly fierce in areas like Akhnoor, Poonch, Uri and Keran. Casualties take place on both sides”, said a senior officer.

The virtually ‘bunker-to-bunker’ exchange of firing across the LoC, with civilians often being caught in the middle, has further escalated after the Modi Government on 5th August revoked the special status of J&K and moved to split the State into two Union Territories.

Of the 3,200 ceasefire violations (CFVs) already this year, which has broken all annual records since 2003, around 1,600 have taken place in the last 5 months of 2019.

The tally was 307 in August, 292 in September, 351 in October and 304 in November, with the count in December also crossing 300-mark several days ago.

In contrast, the total number of CFVs stood at 971 in 2017, and 1,629 in 2018.

“Earlier in the year, the Pakistan Army-ISI combine was desperate to push in as many terrorists as possible into J&K before the mountain passes got snowed under, with CFVs often being used to provide cover to infiltrators or BAT (Border Action Team) operations. Now, though the infiltration levels have come down, the CFVs are continuing with both sides trying to dominate the LoC”, said another officer.