INDIA: INDIA/PAKISTAN DISPUTED KASHMIR TERRITORY: CLASHES
(7 Jun 1999) Natural Sound Border clashes continued to flare up on Monday in Kashmir between Pakistan and India. Last month guerrillas seized key points of Indian-controlled Kashmir, and India is lashing back. Fierce fighting took place on Monday after Indian troops encircled the rebels at various points. India claims the guerrillas are Afghan mercenaries and Pakistani soldiers who have crossed from Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. These Indian trucks are engaged in a conflict in Kashmir. Their drivers believe they are fighting Pakistani soldiers who have occupied Kashmiri land which India controls. The military is claiming to have pushed back guerrillas occupying strategic heights in disputed Himalayan Kashmir and threatening Indian supply lines. India has accused Pakistani soldiers of being involved in guerrilla action in Kashmir and is determined to keep control of the land the guerrillas have taken. The guerrillas have seized key highlands just inside the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir early last month. India claims the guerrillas are Afghan mercenaries and Pakistani soldiers who have crossed from Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. Pakistan denies this, claiming the guerrillas are residents of Indian-controlled Kashmir who are fighting for independence Pakistan says it endorses their efforts. The Indian Air Force launched airstrikes on May 26. The fighter jets had a day's break on Saturday as the air force assessed the damage caused to rebel positions. Huge grey plumes rose from the guerrillas' mountain position after is was attacked on Sunday by the Indian army in northern Kashmir's Bimbat region, nearly 125 kilometres (80 miles) northeast of Srinagar. Since nearly 700 guerrillas captured snowcapped heights early last month, the Indian military is said to have pushed them back three kilometres (two miles) from their positions. At least 200 of them have been killed, says the Indian military. On Saturday, India handed over to Pakistan what it said were the bodies of three Pakistani soldiers killed in Indian-controlled Pakistan, claiming that the bodies confirmed Pakistan's involvement in the incursion. Pakistan countered that the soldiers were killed in an ambush by Indian soldiers while on patrol last week in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. The clashes have spiked tensions between India and Pakistan, with the two sides exchanging fierce artillery fire in recent weeks. Pakistan has offered to send its foreign minister, Sartaj Aziz, to New Delhi on Monday for peace talks, but India has not yet accepted the offer. An Indian foreign ministry spokesman said on Sunday that India would respond to Pakistan soon with alternative dates for a meeting. India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars during the last 52 years over the Himalayan province. India controls two-thirds of Kashmir, Pakistan the rest, and both claim all of Kashmir. The territory is divided between them by the Line of Control, a ceasefire line that New Delhi is accusing Pakistan of trying to alter. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
