Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Friday asserted that the complete state of Jammu and Kashmir includes Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit Baltistan.

He further said that PoK and Gilgit Baltistan have been illegally occupied India’s western neighbour, Pakistan.

The Army chief further claimed that the territory which has been illegally occupied by Pakistan is not controlled by the Pakistani establishment but by terrorists.

‘PoK is actually a terrorist-controlled country or a terrorist-controlled part of Pakistan,” Rawat said.

General Rawat also assured that the best rifle available in the world, the Sig Sauer from America will be available to the infantry soldiers by the end of this year.

His remarks come as drivers of two apple laden trucks were shot dead and another critically injured on Thursday evening when terrorists attacked a convoy of trucks in South Kashmir’s Shopian district. The trucks, heading for fruit markets elsewhere in the country, were set on fire before the terrorists escaped from the spot.

The incident comes a week after terrorists killed an apple trader of Fazilka in Punjab and a labourer. With the fresh incident, seven persons, mostly from other states, connected with apple trade and transportation have been killed by terrorists.

Meanwhile, at least 18 terrorists were reportedly killed along with 16 Pakistani soldiers as the Indian Army launched artillery strikes on terrorist camps in PoK during the intervening night of October 19 and 20.

As per the reports, all the terror launch pads housing Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and other jihadists were destroyed in the retaliatory strikes after Pakistan carried out attacks firing at Indian posts and tried to infiltrate terrorists.

During the intervening night of October 19-20, an attempt was made in the Tangdhar sector to infiltrate terrorists to which the Indian forces retaliated. Pakistan had carried out attack firing at Indian posts, but before they could attempt the infiltration, the Army targeted the terror camps across the border.

Two Indian soldiers and a civilian were killed in the unprovoked ceasefire violation in Tangdhar sector of Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir on the intervening night of October 19-20. Three other civilians were also injured.