I certainly hope this isn't any BJP gimmick to win the election. Or, I will be p*ssed.
--------------May 26, 1999
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Indian Aircraft Attack in Kashmir,
Pakistan Sees Threat to Territory
Associated Press
DRAS, India -- Indian air force jets and helicopters fired on suspected guerrillas in the disputed Kashmir province Wednesday, marking the most serious escalation of fighting in the region since India and Pakistan tested nuclear weapons last year.
Pakistan accused India of carrying out three bombing raids on the Pakistani side of the border and said it suspects India is trying to annex parts of Pakistan territory. The two countries have fought two of their three wars over the largely uninhabited Himalayan region.
"We are prepared for all eventualities," said Brig. Rashid Quereshi, a military spokesman.
Brig. Quereshi said Indian jet fighters bombed Pakistani territory twice Wednesday morning and again in the early afternoon. Pakistan reserves the right to respond, he said without elaborating.
India denied striking Pakistan territory.
Indian and Pakistani forces routinely exchange artillery fire along the U.N.-established cease-fire line that divides Kashmir between them. But Wednesday's raids were the first use of air power in the region in two decades.
Pakistan's foreign minister, Sartaj Aziz, said the heads of military operations of both India and Pakistan will hold talks "in an attempt to defuse the situation." Earlier, Mr. Aziz said Pakistan was showing restraint but warned "we will take the necessary steps to defend ourselves."
India said the attacks occurred solely on its own territory and were aimed at what it called Afghan mercenaries supported by Pakistani forces. The forces, said to be supporting Kashmiri separatists, moved into the Indian-controlled Himalayan region earlier this month and posed a threat to Indian supply lines in the Himalayan state, Indian officials said.
"This is the start of operations and they will continue until our defense forces reoccupy our territories. Any escalation of this conflict will be entirely the responsibility of Pakistan," the Defense Ministry said in a statement in New Delhi.
Mr. Aziz said his government knew nothing about the infiltrators. "No one knows where they come from and who they are," he said.
The U.S. ambassador to India, Richard Celeste, expressed concern over the developments in a meeting with India's defense minister, George Fernandes, in New Delhi.
Pakistan and India, which were partitioned when they gained independence from Britain in 1947, tested nuclear weapons last year, prompting fears of a nuclear arms race in the subcontinent.
Both countries claim all of Kashmir. India accuses Pakistan of sending militants across the border. Pakistan says it is providing only political and moral support to militants, who have been waging a decade long insurgency demanding either outright independence for Indian-held Kashmir or union with Islamic Pakistan.
More than 15,000 people have been killed in fighting between rebels and security forces in Indian-held Kashmir in the last 10 years.
Pakistan's Brig. Quereshi said India moved some 12,000 soldiers into the area in the last three weeks, a buildup he said far exceeded what the Indian army needed to crush the infiltrators.
Indian Maj. Gen. Joginder Jaswant Singh told reporters in New Delhi that the infiltrators have taken up positions four miles inside India in the Dras, Batalik, Kaksar and Mashkok mountains of northern Kashmir.
Intelligence reports, backed by photos taken by Indian satellites, showed at least 600 infiltrators, Mr. Singh said. The reports also said they have anti-aircraft missiles, radar, snowmobiles and sophisticated communications equipment.
The air force joined the operation because the infiltrators had occupied positions at altitudes of up to 16,000 feet, said Air Commodore Subash Bhojwani.
In Dras, 100 miles from the state capital of Srinagar, Indian army officers said the target of Wednesday's attack was some 70 infiltrators who had entrenched themselves on the slopes of the snowcapped hills, looking down at Indian army convoys, 2,700 feet below.
Their command of the heights handicapped Indian soldiers trying to evict them, officers said.
Army officers in the area said the infiltrators must have taken months to occupy the posts. They said Indian forces could take three to six months to clear them.
The attacks were carried out within Indian-occupied regions, Indian Brig. Mohan Bhandari said. Troops were expected to take over the intruders' positions once they retreat, officials said.
The exchange of mortar and heavy artillery fire in the Kargil and Dras regions has left at least 160 people dead, Brig. Bhandari said. Thousands of residents of the region have fled to safe villages along the Suru River.
The attack came a day after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said all steps -- including airstrikes -- would be taken to push back the infiltrators. He said he warned his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, to withdraw the intruders in a telephone conversation Monday |
