Agencies, Islamabad , September 29

At least two Pakistan Army soldiers were killed as Indian troops fired across the Line of Control in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Thursday. The Pakistani military confirmed the deaths of its soldiers yet dismissed the Indian claim of ‘surgical strikes.’

“There had been cross border fire initiated and conducted by India which is [an] “existential phenomenon,” said an ISPR statement released shortly after the Indian DGMO held a press conference making claims about surgical strikes.

The ISPR statement reads, “There has been no surgical strike by India,instead there had been cross border fire initiated and conducted by India which is existential phenomenon. As per rules of engagement same was strongly and befittingly responded by Pakistani troops.

The notion of surgical strike linked to alleged  terrorists bases is an illusion being deliberately generated by Indian to create false effects.This quest by Indian establishment to create media hype by rebranding cross border fire as surgical strike is fabrication of truth. Pakistan has made it clear that if there is a surgical strike on Pakistani soil, same will be strongly responded.”

The exchange of fire began at 2:30am, ISPR said, and continued till 8:00am.

“Pakistani troops befittingly responded to Indian unprovoked firing on the LoC in Bhimber, Hotspring Kel and Lipa sectors,” the statement said.

The latest incident of cross-border firing comes as tensions simmer between Pakistan and India over the Kashmir issue, days after India accused Pakistan of involvement in the Uri army base attack in India-held Kashmir ─ an allegation that Pakistan has rejected.

Despite a 2003 border ceasefire agreement signed by both countries, cross-border firing along the working boundary is intermittent with both parties frequently accusing the other of breaching it.