The government on Friday said that 285 incidents of ceasefire violation have been witnessed on the Line of Control (LoC), during this first seven months of this year. These violations have left eight people dead.

“There have been 285 incidents of ceasefire violation so far this year through the LoC compared to 228 such incidents in the entire 2016 along the LoC in which eight people had lost their lives,” Union Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

He said there were 221 ceasefire violation along the International Border which is guarded by both the Border Security Force and the Army.

The Union Minister said that Pakistan has increased attempts to push militants into Jammu and Kashmir through the border but there is a high number of casualties on their side.

“Indian Army has domination and impact along the western border and all steps have been taken to check infiltration from across the border. Pakistan has increased efforts of infiltration,” he said.

Jaitely said due to the heightened vigil of the security forces, many infiltration attempts have been foiled and infiltration has been down. “There is record high in the casualties on the other side,” he said.

The minister said the Army has constructed an anti-infiltration obstacle system (AIOS) along the Line of Control and International Border in Jammu and Kashmir, under its operational control.

 Radars, sensors and thermal imagers along with surveillance have been incorporated on this fence to detect and intercept infiltration.

 The AIOS is further strengthened by deployment of troops and construction of defence works based on threat perception for an effective multi-tiered counter-infiltration grid.

 “Fortification of border is a continuous process. Anti- infiltration steps like obstacle systems, technical gadgets have been installed by the Army and enough steps have been taken to check infiltration,” he said.

 Further, the areas along the borders are kept under surveillance by regular patrolling by troops and other aerial, optronic and electronic means.

 “Appropriate retaliation to the ceasefire violations and other tactical incidents by Pakistan Army, as required, is carried out by Indian Army. All the forward posts are adequately strengthened to withstand enemy fire. Besides, there are well-established Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to safeguard against enemy fire to minimise own casualties,” Jaitley said.

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