An IndianArmy soldier was martyred on Tuesday in ceasefire violation by Pakistan alongthe Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. This is the second suchincident for the second consecutive day. Pakistan resorted to unprovoked firingin Sunderbani sector of in Rajouri district and the Indian Army respondedeffectively inflicting substantial damages to the Pakistan Army.

In theexchange of fire, Rifleman Sukhwinder Singh attained martyrdom. Singh, aged 21years belonged to Fatehpur Village in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, accordingto Army officials. He is survived by his parents, added the officials."Singh was a brave, highly motivated and a sincere soldier and the nationwill always remain indebted to him for the supreme sacrifice and devotion toduty," said the Army.

On Monday,a jawan was martyred in a ceasefire violation by the Pakistan Army in Gurezsector, which is about 86 kilometres from Bandipore district.

On December12, Pakistan had resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation along the LoC inShahpur, Kirni and Qasba sectors of Poonch district. The Pakistani Army hadinitiated an unprovoked firing of small arms and shelling with mortars alongthe LoC at around 11.40 am.

Notably,Pakistan has violated ceasefire over 2,500 times from January to November 15,2019, in the border areas of J&K along the LoC. Pakistani Army continues tomake civilians their targets even as the Indian Army has valorously counteredtheir every attempt to ensue unrest in the valley.

There hasalso been a surge in ceasefire violations by Pakistan since the NarendraModi-led NDA government at the Centre decided to abrogate Article 370, whichgranted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. More than350 ceasefire violations took place in October 2019, which were the highest inthe 10 months of 2019, the Indian Army said. The other time whenPakistan-initiated ceasefire violation crossed the 300-mark was in August 2019,when India revoked Article 370.  Pakistanhas been violating ceasefire almost every day for the past three months in thedistricts of Hiranagar, Akhnoor, Sundarbani, Nowshera, Rajouri, Mendhar,Poonch, Uri and Kupwara.