INDIA: INDIA/PAKISTAN DISPUTED KASHMIR REGION LATEST
English/Nat
Top military commanders of
India and Pakistan met Sunday near the border of their countries in an attempt to stop the fighting in
Kashmir that has left hundreds of people dead or wounded.
The meeting came hours after
Indian guns fell silent in Kashmir, apparently to allow Pakistan-backed intruders to leave the mountains of
India-held Kashmir that they seized several months ago.
Fighting has raged for weeks in the disputed
Kashmir valley region and soldiers from the
Indian army have faced fierce resistance.
In
Mushkoh Valley, Indian artillery guns fired overnight at
Rocky Knob mountain, inflicting heavy casualties among the intruders.
Mopping up operations were hampered as the fighters scattered some
300 land mines on the mountains as they fled.
Two months of fighting in the India-held region has left hundreds of
Indian soldiers and Pakistan-backed intruders dead or wounded
.
In the last few days,
Indian troops have claimed major successes in evicting the intruders from the Himalayas.
Indian commanders say the fighting is in a decisive stage now.
On Saturday,
Mirage and MiG jets pounded intruder positions in the northern
Dras sector, destroying a key gun position and a supply camp.
Indian forces claimed for the first time to have pushed the guerrillas at one of the war fronts, the
Batalik area, back across the
1972 ceasefire line dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"A decisive moment has arrived and we expect an early completion of operation in
Kargil. I do not wish to give it a time frame as yet."
SUPERCAPTION:
Colonel J.J. Singh,
Military spokesman
Sunday morning, Indian infantry soldiers laid down their guns in all the four sectors of Kashmir where fighting has raged.
The move apparently was to allow the intruders to climb down the mountains and cross into
Pakistan.
SOUNDBITE: (
English)
"We have noticed some movements which could be construed as his thinning out from certain positions."
SUPERCAPTION: Colonel J.J. Singh, Military spokesman
Although the director-general of military operations for both India and Pakistan have been talking with each other on the telephone every week, they have only now met in person.
The meeting went on for more than two hours and was still in progress late Sunday at an Indian border post in
Atari in the state of
Punjab.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"At the request of the
Government of Pakistan, a meeting of the
Director generals of military operations of India and Pakistan was held at 1330 hours at Atari on the Indian side of
Wagah border in
BSF (border security force) area. The outcome of this meeting is not yet known."
SUPERCAPTION: Colonel J.J. Singh, Military spokesman
In
Srinagar, the Indian army displayed for the press bodies of those killed in the ongoing conflict.
The army said the bodies were regular
Pakistani soldiers and were recovered from the positions recaptured by the Indian army.
Also displayed were personal letters found with these bodies.
The
Pakistani army has refused to claim these bodies.
Since May, hundreds of fighters have occupied key peaks in the
India-held Kashmir.
New Delhi believes Pakistani soldiers and insurgents supported by
Islamabad are on the snowcapped peaks.
Islamabad says it has no control over the fighters, whom it describes as native
Kashmiris seeking independence of the
Himalayan territory.
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