Ceasefire violations along LoC on the up: Army

The army on Thursday said there has been increase in ceasefire violations and decrease in infiltration bids this year along LoC, even as troops are more alert to foil designs of militants from across the border.

"As against 28 ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops last year, there were 43 ceasefire violations this year," Northern Command Chief Lt Gen B S Jaswal told mediapersons in Uddhampur on Thursday.

He said these violations were a part of designs to push militants into the country.

Due to alertness of the troops, there was decrease in infiltration attempts this year, he said, adding, as against 110 such attempts along the border with Pakistan last year, 92 infiltration bids were recorded this year.

On a question about the presence of militants in J&K, he said 60 per cent of them were foreigners.

The post-winter strategy on counter infiltration security grid along the border line has been put in place and some more posts were set up on the newly-surveyed routes into J&K from across the border, Gen Jaswal said.

About incursion bids along the border with China in Ladakh region, he said there were no such attempts but 43 transgressions were reported from there this year.

To a question about China not granting him visa, Gen Jaswal said, "I do not have any regret at all".

He termed the 'Wikileaks' report on torture camps and consultation centres in the Valley as idealism and said "my aim is to ensure zero tolerance to human rights violation".

Referring to human rights violation, he said army has zero-tolerance policy towards such acts.

"I have a huge army and faults do take place but whosoever is responsible is punished and does not go scot free," Gen Jaswal said.