Posted on 12/24/2001 4:47:43 PM PST by codeword
JAMMU, India (Reuters) - Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged fresh mortar and heavy machinegun fire on Monday as New Delhi expelled a Pakistani diplomat, raising tensions between the nuclear-armed enemies ever higher.
The two hostile neighbors have reinforced positions on either side of their border in Kashmir since a December 13 suicide attack on the Indian parliament which New Delhi blamed on two Pakistan-based militant groups.
A senior Pakistani army officer said the situation was ''highly explosive'' and continued border clashes could spark an uncontrollable flareup involving nuclear weapons.
India said it had destroyed Pakistani bunkers in exchanges of fire on Monday. Pakistan denied that, accusing Indian forces of targeting civilians, killing two and wounding four others.
India expelled the diplomat from New Delhi for what it called actions ``inconsistent with the legitimate sphere of activities.'' ``He should leave the country within a week,'' foreign ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao told reporters.
Pakistan rejected the allegations.
``These absurd allegations represent yet another desperate attempt to implicate Pakistan in the December 13 terrorist attack on the Indian parliament,'' the foreign ministry said.
Twelve people, including nine anti-Indian guerrillas, died in clashes between separatists and security forces in Kashmir on Monday.
PEOPLE SAID TO FLEE
Indian-ruled Kashmir's revenue and relief minister, Abdul Qayoom, said hundreds of panic-stricken people had begun migrating from border areas following an exchange of fire which killed three border guards over the weekend.
``We have destroyed some of their bunkers even today as the two sides exchanged artillery, mortar and heavy machinegun fire at some places along the Line of Control in Rajouri and Poonch sectors,'' an Indian defense official said.
A Pakistani army spokesman called that report baseless. He said two male civilians had been killed and four wounded by Indian artillery fire on Chirikot village in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir's Bagh district.
Local sources in the eastern garrison town of Sialkot said the Pakistani army had moved most troops from there to the border with India and also deployed anti-aircraft weapons.
Kashmir's main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, asked the two countries to exercise restraint in Kashmir, the trigger for two past wars.
``We urge the international community to impress upon the governments of India and Pakistan to exercise utmost restraint,'' Hurriyat spokesman Sheikh Abdul Rashid told Reuters.
India has blamed two guerrilla groups, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, for the parliament attack and demanded that Pakistan close them down and arrest their leaders.
Pakistan has condemned the attack and said it will act against the groups if he is shown evidence of their involvement.
GROUP TO MOVE FROM PAKISTAN
Lashkar-e-Taiba, which resorted to suicide attacks on India in 1999 but denies responsibility for the latest attack, said it would move its militant wing to Indian-held Kashmir from Pakistan.
``Lashkar-e-Taiba will continue its militant activities against the Indian army in occupied Kashmir,'' the group's leader Hafiz Mohammad Saeed told a news conference in Lahore, adding that he was not bothered by the State Department's decision to add it to a list of terrorist organizations on December 20.
Indian police said on Monday they had smashed another group in Kashmir linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network and said it had been planning to kill Americans and Israelis in India and attack key installations.
New Delhi, which accuses Pakistan of fomenting a decade-old revolt in Muslim-majority Kashmir, recalled its envoy from Islamabad on Friday, accusing Pakistan of failing to act against terrorism.
Pakistan denies sponsoring the rebellion in Kashmir, saying it only provides moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri struggle for self-determination.
Pakistani Brigadier Mohammad Yaqub said in Muzaffarabad, capital of the Pakistani-held part of Kashmir, that an all-out war between the two nations could ``become really horrific for the entire world'' since either side might easily resort to nuclear weapons if it felt its survival was threatened.
Pakistani military's public relations department said the top-brass of its armed forces met in the garrison town of Rawalpindi and ``discussed matters relating to defense, national security and professional aspects.''
Each side says it is responding to a build-up of forces by the other side. The Indian foreign ministry's Rao accused Pakistan of trying to stoke tensions.
``Pakistan is trying to create an impression of impending tension. We want Pakistan to take action against the terrorists but instead of that Pakistan is trying to divert attention.''
How long before the nukes go flying back and forth?
Pakistan is the nexus of evil in the modern world.
BCCI, nukes, 79 percent of the world's heroin manufacture, the Taliban, al Qaeda. Karachi, Peshawar.
'Nuff said.
A bad 'Stan to be sure!
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