Guns fall silent on LoC
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, July 15 — After de-escalation of the conflict in Kargil and Dras sectors Pak guns have fallen silent on the Line of Control LoC and the international border during the last four days.

As long as the armed conflict assumed serious dimensions in the Kargil-Dras belt Pakistani troops resorted to heavy mortar shelling and MMG firing on Indian villages and pickets in Gurez, Tangdhar, Kupwara, Machel areas. Pakistani soldiers and Rangers pounded scores of Indian villages in Poonch, Rajouri, Akhnoor, R S Pora and Samba sectors in the Jammu region with mortar shells and other weapons. About 60,000 border villagers in the state were rendered refugees when they fled to safer areas.

The Pak troops stepped up firing on the villages mainly to push into groups of militants. According to the state government reports about 1,000 Pak-trained militants and foreign mercenaries were able to sneak into the state under the fire cover provided by Pak soldiers during the past 50 days.

Confirming that the intensity of the Pak firing the spokesman said soon after Pakistan agreed to withdraw the soldiers and infiltrators from the icy heights of the Kargil and Dras sectors Pakistani troops gradually stopped opening reckless firing on this side of the border. He said during the past four days there has been no major incidents of border firing by Pak troops in any sector of the state.

Official sources gave three reasons for the slight improvement in the situation on the Indo-Pak border. First, Pakistani troops had tasted effective offensive from Indian soldiers in Gurez, Tangdhar, Poonch, Rajouri, Akhnoor and R S Pora areas during the past two months. Since the morale of the Pak troops was down after the withdrawal of Pak soldiers and infiltrators from the Kargil and Dras sectors they stopped hitting the Indian villages. They were under instructions from the field commanders to mount pressure on the Indian troops in several areas so that India could not send additional forces to Kargil and Dras.

Secondly, the reckless firing and shelling in nine sectors had created a situation in which Pakistan's armed forces experienced severe ammunition shortage. On an average Pak troops would fire 10,000 to 20,000 rounds of fire from small arms and several hundred mortar shells per day on this side of the Line of Control (LoC) from Uri to Samba. When this continued for over 50 days the Pak soldiers realised that they had exhausted the stock of ammunition. Hence they were asked to observe restraint so that whatever was left could be used during emergencies.

Thirdly, the field commanders across the border are trying to restructure their plans regarding intensifying the proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir. They need a breather so that the agencies engaged in abetting proxy war were able to complete the new strategy.

Official sources said in the retaliatory fire by the Indian troops Pakistan suffered heavy casualties and over 200 bunkers and army camps across Gurez, Machel, Pallanwalla, Poonch and Rajouri had been destroyed. The sources said Pak soldiers would like to rebuild their damaged structures only when there was no exchange of fire on the border between the two armies.

The sources, however, made it clear that the field reports have indicated that the current peace on the border is temporary as preparations were on for kicking up subversive violence within the state.

Sources said in case the border remained peaceful the additional battalions of the Indian troops deployed to guard the LoC against Pak incursion and intrusion would be withdrawn and posted in the sensitive areas of the state where militants have resurfaced menacingly. But the withdrawal would be gradual because defence experts do not want to take the risk of witnessing another Kargil in some different sector.

According to the sources, the Indo-Pak border has to be taken care of during the period the election process is in progress in the state. The security forces have to ensure that voters were not scared away from the pre-poll campaign and from polling booths by Pak gunners who may attempt to kick up some border row between August and October.

3 foreign ultras, jawan killed

SRINAGAR, July 15 (PTI) — Five persons, including three foreign mercenaries, a security jawan and a counter-insurgent, were killed and three injured as militants fired rockets at a security camp in Jammu and Kashmir since last evening.

Three mercenaries were killed by the security forces in separate encounters at Ari-Mendhar and Keith-Surankote in Poonch district last night, an official spokesman said today.

Two rifles, a pistol, three remote controls and a wireless set were recovered from them.

Security forces smashed two militant hideouts and seized two rifles, two remote control devices, seven rocket projectile guns, two hand grenades, seven gelatin sticks and a packet containing potassium powder in Rajouri and Doda during the period.

A security jawan was killed in a rocket attack by militants at Bagatpora in Kupwara district last evening.

The militants sent two rockets towards the security camp, while one rocket hit the target, another exploded in mid air causing minor damage to a nearby house. However, none was hurt.

Militants shot dead a counter-insurgent, Habib-ullah Ganai in his house at Kalaroos in Kupwara last evening.

He said militants attacked the house of a Village Defence Committee (VDC) member, Pritam Singh, in the Khiloo-Mahore area of Udhampur district, injuring him and two family members.

One militant was killed after an encounter at Dhar in Dudu forests of Udhampur district yesterday. However, three of his accomplices escaped in an injured condition.

In another incident, militants entered the residence of Ghulam Ahmed at Malikmarh in the Chatroo area of Doda district and shot him dead.

Meanwhile, the police arrested two Pakistani nationals from a forward area of Arnia in Jammu district yesterday.

They were identified as Mohammad Najeed and Mohammad Sarwar, both residents of Gujranwala, and are being interrogated.