Pakistan Move Surface To Air Missile To Border With India
25 April, 2020
PAKISTANI forces have appeared to reignite tensions with India after satellite images indicated military weapons have been moved closer to the border.
Satellite images surfaced on social media reportedly show the Pakistani Army back in February re-deploying its Surface to Air Missile system. The LY-80 missile is thought to have been strategically moved to a base in the city of Lahore. It is understood the weapon was first moved to the region back in December 2019.
Lahore is located just 14 miles (24km) from Wagah-Attari border between India and Pakistan.
The LY-80 also known as HQ16A is a Chinese-manufactured medium-range missile system – which was introduced into the Chinese armed forces in 2011.
The devastating HQ-16A is able to engage aerial targets at high altitude and can intercept targets at distance of 24 miles (40km).
The advanced system is also equipped with six firing missile containers locked in two rows of three, which can fire at a speed in excess of 600mph.
The Pakistani Army first began using the weapon in March 2017 and conducted its first live military drill in 2019.
On the ground tensions have continued to escalate over the disputed Kashmir region.
Last week military officials confirmed both sides exchanged mortar and artillery shelling along the de facto border known as the Line of Control (LoC) that divides the territory.
India and Pakistan have engaged in two brutal conflicts over Kashmir and relations were strained again in 2019, when New Delhi withdrew the autonomy of the Kashmir region in 2019
The controversial move split Kashmir into territories federally administered by India.
Until then, it had had autonomy over all matters except defence, communications and foreign affairs.
India accuses its neighbour of training and then sending militants across the border to launch attacks and support a separatist movement against Indian rule.
Pakistan denies giving material support to militants in Kashmir but says it provides moral and diplomatic backing for the self-determination of Kashmiri people.
The India and Pakistani Governments have not engaged in talks over Kashmir since February of last year.
Courtesy” Opera News/ defencenews.in