A soldier of the Border Security Force was injured when Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing on Indian posts in violation of a ceasefire agreement along the border in Jammu on Wednesday, officials said.
The BSF troops retaliated to the firing, by the casualties on the Pakistani side were not known immediately, they said, reported PTI.
A BSF spokesperson said that the incident of unprovoked firing happened at about 2:35 am in the Akhnoor area from across the border which was befittingly responded to by the BSF.
One BSF personnel sustained injuries in Pakistani firing, the spokesperson added.
The troops are on high alert and keeping a strict vigil all along the International Border and Line of Control, he added.
India and Pakistan renewed the ceasefire agreement on February 25, 2021, after which ceasefire violations between the two countries have been very rare. The first casualty since the renewing of the ceasefire agreement on the Indian side occurred last year when a BSF jawan was killed in Pakistan Rangers firing in the Ramgarh sector.
In December 2022, the Defence Ministry said that only three minor incidents of "violations" were recorded along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir after the renewal of the ceasefire agreement. However, the ministry noted that Pakistan continued to retain the "proxy war infrastructure" and "functionality" of terrorist training camps as well as the presence of terrorists in terror "launch pads" vindicated that country's "persistent intent" towards India.
The latest ceasefire violation comes days ahead of the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which will take place for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370. The three-phase election will start on September 18. The second phase of polling will take place on September 25 followed by the third phase on October 1.
Votes will be counted on October 8 along with the Haryana assembly elections.