Pak patrol missing, chemical weapons scare in Kargil

NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD, JUNE 14: Pakistan Army today said that one of its patrol teams has disappeared following a ground assault by Indian ...

NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD, JUNE 14: Pakistan Army today said that one of its patrol teams has disappeared following a ground assault by Indian forces on its positions along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir and charged India with using chemical weapons. The Indian Army vehemently denied the allegation and said the infiltrators were themselves planning to use chemical weapons as gas masks were found at the positions they had to vacate after the Tololing heights fell to the Indian Army.

A Pakistani Army statement said the one of its patrol had set out from its Himalayan mountain position under the cover of darkness but did not return by daylight on Sunday. Efforts are on to trace their whereabouts, said the statement.

The statement also said that the contents of Indian shells that slammed into its Kashmir territory during the weekend have been sent for examination as they contained chemical weapons. “The Indians fired chemical shells. . . The type and details of the contents of the shells are beingascertained,” the statement said.

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On its part, the Indian Army charged that the enemy might be planning to use chemical weapons since three gas masks have been recovered from an area in the Drass sector. An army spokesman told reporters that “it is possible that the enemy had planned to use something.”

Asked to elaborate further, he said “the Indian army does not use chemical weapons. Probably the enemy was planning to use it.”

The masks along with a large quantity of weapons were recovered from an area north of Tololing, reclaimed from the Pakistani regulars and other intruders on May 29.