| At least 1,000 soldiers from the Assam Regiment were withdrawn from Kashmir today, part of the ongoing move to scale down troops in the restive valley. "The soldiers belonged to the counter insurgency operations in the state and are not going to be replaced by paramilitary personnel," said Colonel D.K. Badola. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh vowed last month that India would reduce the number of its troops stationed in its only Muslim-majority. However, Indian authorities have never made it clear how many troops are deployed in Kashmir. Newspapers have put the number in the hundreds of thousands, and may be up to half a million. |