Pak rushes reinforcements to LoC; fires at Indian posts

The Pakistan Army is rushing reinforcements to bolster its posture along the Line of Control (LoC) where it ratcheted up tensions on Thursday by bringing multiple Indian posts under machine-gun fire, against the backdrop of New Delhi planning a military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, people aware of the matter said.

- Rahul Singh

KUPWARA: The Pakistan Army is rushing reinforcements to bolster its posture along the Line of Control (LoC) where it ratcheted up tensions on Thursday by bringing multiple Indian posts under machine-gun fire, against the backdrop of New Delhi planning a military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, people aware of the matter said.

At the heart of the Pakistani mobilisation are Chinese-origin SH-15 howitzers it began inducting three years ago and the eastward movement of some army elements from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to areas closer to the LoC, the people said on Thursday, asking not to be named.

"The Pakistan Army's actions betray its fear. Our deployment along the LoC is robust," one of the people cited above said.

On Wednesday, India shut its airspace to aircraft registered in or operated by Pakistan hours after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reviewed security dynamics in Jammu & Kashmir as well as the developments unfolding in the region. This came a day after the PM granted the military a free hand to respond forcefully to the attack that killed 26 people.