A soldier from Kerala has been killed along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Pir Panjal’s Poonch by Pakistani sniper fire, bringing the recent death toll to three soldiers in three days, as reported in The Indian Express.
Jammu-based Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Devender Anand told The Hindu that the 34-year-old soldier, Lance Naik Antony Sebastian KM, was killed after the Pakistani Army allegedly resorted to “an unprovoked ceasefire violation in Krishna Ghati Sector in Mendhar on the LoC around 5:15 PM on Monday.” He was critically injured and later succumbed to his injuries.
Sebastian was from Manakunnam village in Kannayanur, Ernakulam, and is survived by his wife, Anna Dayana Joseph. He was a part of the Army’s 4 MLI Regiment, which patrols the Sakri Post near Sonawali Gali along the LoC in the sub-division of Mendhar, according to reports.
The Army has said in a press release, “Sebastian K.M. was a brave and sincere soldier. The nation will always remain indebted to him for the supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty.” According to The Hindu, the army has also said that it “retaliated strongly and effectively on Pakistan Army posts,” while spokesperson Anand claimed that “the martyrdom of the Indian Army Soldier will not go in vain.”
Another solider, Havildar Mari Muthu D, also sustained critical gunshot wounds in the same incident which killed Sebastian, and is undergoing medical treatment at the Military Hospital, Poonch.
As reported by Malayalam Manorama, two other army personnel, 29-year-old Naik Gosavi Keshav Somgir and 21-year-old rifleman Varun Kattal lost their lives in Rajouri district on Saturday and Sunday, while a civilian army porter lost his life in another similar attack a day earlier, on Friday. All were killed allegedly in Pakistani sniper fire.
