Jammu, May 22 (IANS): Pakistan continued violating ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC) for the fifth consecutive day on Friday by using small arms and mortars in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch and Rajouri districts.

For the fifth consecutive day, Pakistan army used small arms and was shelling with mortars to target the Indian positions on the LoC in the two districts.

Defence ministry spokesman, Colonel Devender Anand told IANS, "On May 22, 2020, at about 3.30 a.m., Pakistan initiated the unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and shelling with mortars along Line of Control in Krishna Ghati Sector, District Poonch (J&K).

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"Indian army is retaliating befittingly," he said.

The force said that again at about 7.20 a.m., Pakistan initiated the unprovoked ceasefire violation in the Nowshera Sector in Rajouri District in Jammu. The Indian Army was giving the befitting reply to this also, said the army.

Pakistan has been frequently violating the bilateral ceasefire agreement signed between the two countries in October 2003.

Senior army officers believe these ceasefire violations are a deliberate attempt by the Pakistan army to give fire cover to terrorists so that they can sneak into the Indian side of the LoC.

The Pakistani Army has been continuously targeting the Keran Valley, Poonch, Uri Sector, Krishna Ghati and Akhnoor sectors in the Union Territory.

In 2019, a total 3,200 incidents of ceasefire violations by Pakistan across the LoC were reported as compared to 1,629 incidents in 2018, the Ministry of Defence had stated.