The Indian Army on Tuesday said it had launched “punitive fire assaults” on Pakistani positions across the Line of Control, inflicting “some damage”, days after two of its troopers were beheaded.

It also released a video of the military action which showed some structures in a forested area crumbling in a heap under the impact of repeated shelling.

Pakistan Army, however, dismissed the reports of its posts being destroyed by its Indian counterpart as “false”.

Though the Indian Army did not provide much operational details of the retributive assault across the Line of Control (LoC) against Pakistan Army positions in Naushera sector that were “aiding” infiltration, sources said the strike was carried out on May 9, nine days after two Indian security personnel were beheaded.

“A recent action by our troops in the Naushera sector has caused some damage to the Pak Army posts, which are supporting infiltrations. This is part of our overall strategy to counter terrorism,” Additional Director General of Public Information Major General AK Narula told reporters.

Sources said the strike was a message to Pakistan that the Army will take stronger action with increased frequency against any infiltration attempts from across the border.

The 22-second video showed concrete structures being reduced to rubble amid plumes of smoke and balls of fire.

Army sources said rocket launchers, anti-tank guided missiles and automatic grenade launchers and recoilless guns were used in the strike.

“Pak Army has been providing support to armed infiltrators by engaging our forward troops from their weapon emplacements and pill-boxes closer to the LoC. At times, they have not even hesitated to target villages in the proximity,” Maj Gen Narula said .

Proactive measures

He said infiltrations are likely to increase with the melting of snow and opening of passes, and referred to the recent incident in Naugam where four terrorists were neutralised on May 20-21.

“This calls for even more proactive counter-terrorism operations. We want peace and tranquillity in the state of J&K. For this purpose, it is essential that the infiltrations along Line of Control are controlled which is essential to bring down the numbers of terrorists in J&K so that youths of J&K are not adversely influenced by terrorists,” he said.