ISLAMABAD – The Indian military on Sunday claimed to have killed severalPakistani attackers trying to cross the de facto border in Kashmir, astensions ratcheted up in the disputed region and sent thousands of touristsfleeing.
Kashmir has surged back into the spotlight in recent days, just monthsafter a deadly militant attack on an Indian paramilitary convoy claimed bya Pakistan-based group sparked cross-border air attacks.
The nuclear-armed rivals have controlled parts of the Himalayan regionsince the end of British colonial rule in the subcontinent in 1947. Bothclaim it in its entirety.
India has deployed at least 10,000 troops there in recent days, with mediareports of a further 25,000 ordered to Kashmir. There were some 500,000Indian security forces already based in the region.
The government has also introduced other security measures — including acall to stock up food and fuel — over terror threat claims.
Amid growing panic among residents with long queues outside petrolstations, food stores and cash machines, India and Pakistan tradedtit-for-tat accusations.
The Indian army said Sunday it had foiled an attempt by a Pakistani team ofarmy regulars and militants to cross the Line of Control, the de factoborder, dividing Kashmir, killing “five to seven” attackers.
Pakistan denied the claims, describing them as “baseless” as it accusedIndia of using cluster bombs against civilians, killing two people –including a four-year-old boy — and critically injuring 11 others.
New Delhi has denied the charge.
Read Top Stories
Tourists and students have been scrambling to leave Kashmir since the Jammuand Kashmir state government said they should leave “immediately” amid newintelligence about “terror threats” to a major Hindu pilgrimage in theregion.
Britain and Germany have issued warnings against travel to the region.
But while the Indian military and the state government have highlighted thesecurity risk, Kashmiri and opposition politicians in New Delhi have raisedconcerns that the extra troops were being deployed for other reasons.
They include fears that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalistgovernment could carry out a threat to scrap Kashmir’s special status underthe constitution.
Political leaders in the territory have warned that cancellingconstitutionally guaranteed rights — which mean only state domiciles canbuy land in the region — could spark unrest in the Muslim-majority state.
Rebel groups have for decades fought against Indian soldiers deployed inthe part of Kashmir controlled by New Delhi, seeking the territory’s mergerwith Pakistan or outright independence.
The conflict has left tens of thousands dead, mostly civilians. -APP/AFP