Pakistan takes steps to tackle infiltration

Pakistan has taken several stringent measures over the past week to stop any sneak infiltration by militants into Indian Kashmir, security sources told Gulf News yesterday.

The move follows mounting U.S.-led pressure on President Pervez Musharraf to choke off such incursions to ease the current dangerous tension with India as the two nuclear rivals stand on the brink of war.

Instructions went out several days ago to wind up any offices and allied structures of fighter groups in Azad Kashmir, the official title for the Pakistani part of the disputed Himalayan state, they said.

"The directives have been fully carried out and troops stationed along the LoC have been asked to exercise strict vigilance to prevent any infiltration from either side," a security agency official said.

The new regime has halted any sneak crossing of the disputed border both ways, he said, pointing out that the offices of militant groups in Pakistan had already been closed after Musharraf launched a crackdown against extremism and terrorism in January.

But the Pakistan government cannot control fighters, both locals and outsiders, who are in Indian Kashmir and have been engaged in fighting against "Indian repression," the official said.

"A freedom movement has been going on in Indian-held Kashmir for the last 13 years and those involved in it have created their infrastructure in the territory.

"The problem is the Indians will blame any incident occurring in the troubled area on Pakistan to keep it under pressure and to cover up the basically indigenous character of the Kashmiri uprising," he said.

According to Indian official figures, more than 35,000 people have been killed in violence linked to the separatist campaign in Muslim majority Indian Kashmir.

Pakistan and Kashmiri parties inside and outside Indian Kashmir put the toll at more than 80,0000 since the insurgency erupted in 1989.

Administration officials in Pakistani Kashmir said the number of refugees fleeing "atrocities in Indian Kashmir" had swelled over the past one year.

From around 30,000 a year ago, the number of refugees crossing over to the Pakistani side has risen to 80,000 as a result of "unrest and Indian crackdowns," they said.

During the visit of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to the region late last month to reduce Pakistan-India tension, Musharraf said that no infiltration was taking place across the LoC.

After talks with Musharraf and Indian leaders in New Delhi the British foreign secretary said the test of Pakistan's assurance would be how it works on the ground in Kashmir.

Similar stance has been taken by the U.S. and President Bush on Thursday, when they again urged Musharraf to stop infiltration while announcing his decision to send Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to Pakistan and India in a bid to contain the escalating crisis. Rumsfeld is due to visit Islamabad and New Delhi next week.

Officials here say the government is determined to wipe out terrorism and extremism but it is a complex and difficult task requiring sustained efforts.

"By putting pressure and refusing talks, India is sabotaging Pakistan government's campaign against extremism and terrorism," a government official said.

"It looks they have other designs – to undermine Pakistan's important position in the international coalition against terrorism and to sweep the Kashmir issue under the rug," he added.

Pakistan wants the U.S. and other major powers to help bring about a political solution to the festering Kashmir issue, which it says is the root cause of perpetual mistrust and hospitality between the two countries.

More than 60 people, meanwhile, have been killed and over 200 injured on the Pakistani side as a result of Indian shelling over the past fortnight with the rival troops trading heavy fire along the LoC almost daily.

The U.S. is worried that Indo-Pakistan conflict would have an adverse impact on its ongoing campaign to mop up Al Qaida and Taliban remnants believed to be trying to regroup across the Afghan border in Pakistani tribal territory.