INDIA-PAKISTAN CRISIS: KASHMIR BORDER VIOLENCE KILLS 9
The Pakistani army
said four of its soldiers and three Indian troops had been killed in an
exchange of fire across the heavily militarised de-facto border known as the Line
of Control.
India denied it
suffered any casualties, but said its soldiers had killed five ‘militants’ who
attempted to cross the LoC in a separate incident in Uri, 100 kilometres
northwest of the main city of Srinagar.
India frequently
accuses Pakistan of sending fighters across the LoC to launch attacks on its
soldiers in Kashmir, which has been divided between the two nuclear-armed
neighbours since partition in 1947.
‘During the night a
group of infiltrating militants were challenged by the army, triggering a
fierce exchange of fire in which five militants were killed,’ superintendent of
Indian police Imtiyaz Hussain said.
Hussain said the
militants appeared to be from Jaish-e-Mohammad, a Pakistan-based militant group
that police say has recently stepped up its activities in the volatile
territory.
It has been blamed
for a series of audacious attacks inside Indian-administered Kashmir in recent
weeks including one on New Year’s eve in which four paramilitary troops were
killed.
The latest violence
comes in the wake of the deadliest year in a decade in Indian Kashmir, where
the army killed at least 200 militants, decimating the rebel leadership.
Scores of civilians
were also killed in last year’s violence.
India has about
500,000 troops in the Himalayan territory, which is claimed in full by both
India and Pakistan.
On Monday India’s
army chief Bipin Rawat warned the force would react strongly to any aggression
from Pakistan.
‘Pakistan Army has
been continuously trying to help terrorists sneak into India along LoC,’ he
told soldiers in a speech.
‘We are using our
might to teach them a lesson.’
Islamabad denies
allegations that it arms and trains militants to launch attacks on Indian
forces, saying it only provides diplomatic support to the Kashmiri struggle for
right to self-determination.
Opposition to Indian
rule intensified in the mainly Muslim territory in 2016 after the slaying of
popular rebel leader Burhan Wani.
More than 100
civilians died in clashes with government forces that year during months of protests
against India.
SOURCE: AFP
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