Fresh fighting has erupted along the southern stretches of the Line of Control with Indian forces engaging terrorists in the village of Mankote, close to the location of some of the most intense combat in Thursday’s pre-dawn special forces raids on jihadist staging posts.
The fighting, sources told The Indian Express, was spearheaded by jihadists sent in to retaliate against the raids, backed by Pakistani troops stationed across the Line of Control near Tata Pani.Chandu Babulal Chauhan, a soldier serving with the 37 Rashtriya Rifles, was captured after he “inadvertently crossed over to the other side of the Line of Control”, an Indian Army official said.
Islamabad-based diplomatic sources, however, told The Indian Express that Chauhan had been captured by Pakistani troops at Jhandroot, west of Mankote, and was now being kept at the military headquarters in Nikayal.
Eight Indian soldiers, Pakistani media reported, citing their army sources, had been killed in the second burst of fighting on Thursday near Tata Pani, a claim the Indian Army said was “completely false and baseless”.