Armed mercenaries, Pak troops gather along LoC

Armed mercenaries, Pak troops gather along LoC
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, FEB 10: Thousands of heavily-armed mercenaries backed by stepped-up troop force levels have been amassed by Pakistan all along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.

Hundreds of mercenaries from four major groups: Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Al-Badar and Hizbul Mujahideen have been moved to the front lines in Tangdhar, Kupwara and Uri in North Kashmir and Nanga Tekri and Jarikhas facing Poonch and Rajouri sector in Jammu region in tandem with movement of a fresh Pakistani Army brigade to these areas, highly-placed official sources said here.

The sources said the mercenaries' concentration across the LoC was on the Kargil pattern and could have serious security ramifications for India. Intelligence agencies have indicated that this concentration could be to unleash major attacks on Army formations along the LoC as well as in border districts in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to Pakistani media reports, the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence is putting pressure on mercenarygroups to form a unified command. The self-styled commander-in-chief of the Hizbul Mujahideen Syed Salahuddin was quoted as saying he was setting up a combined Kashmir Liberation Army.

Salahuddin, the Pakistani paper The Nation said, has announced "the year 2000 is going to be quite tough for India in Kashmir." Earlier, the released Pakistani cleric, Masood Azhar last week announced launching of a "Jaish-e-Mohammed Mujahideen-e-Tanzeem" (unified command) indicating the ISI had failed to control fissures among the militants.

The Pakistani authorities have moved four infantry battalions from the Lahore-based 10 Corps and Gujranwala-based 30 Corps to in and around Muzzafarabad region in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Along with the induction of fresh forces, the Pakistan Army has also moved medium range 80 mm and 120 mm mortars to the front line. Earlier, reports had hinted that the Pakistani Army might pass on some of the heavy mortars to mercenaries.