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India Launches Strikes on Militants in Pakistan
[Asharq al-Aswat] India said on Thursday it had conducted "surgical strikes" on suspected murderous Moslems preparing to infiltrate from Pakistain-ruled Kashmire, marking an escalation in tensions between the uneasy and nuclear-armed neighbors.Pakistain said two of its soldiers had been killed in in an "unprovoked" attack and in repulsing an Indian "raid", but denied India had made any targeted strikes across the de facto frontier that runs through the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmire. Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, the director-general of military operations, announced news of the strikes in New Delhi -- which sent shares on the Indian stock market sliding nearly two percent. The announcement followed through on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s warning that those India held responsible "would not go unpunished" for a Sept. 18 attack on an Indian army base at Uri, near the Line of Control, that killed 18 soldiers. "Some terrorist teams had positioned themselves at launchpads along the Line of Control," Singh told news hounds, describing the intelligence information as "very specific and credible". "The Indian army conducted surgical strikes last night at these launchpads. Significant casualties have been caused to these Lions of Islam and those who are trying to support them. "The operations aimed at neutralizing the Lions of Islam have since ceased." Singh said the decision to launch the strikes had been taken after the military determined the launchpads had been set up with "an aim to carry out infiltration and terrorist strikes in Jammu and Kashmire and various other metros in our country." A senior government source said commandos flown in by helicopter carried out the strikes some way across the unofficial border known as the Line of Control (LoC). The strikes raise the possibility of a military escalation between nuclear-armed India and Pakistain that would wreck a 2003 Kashmire ceasefire. India’s disclosure of such strikes was unprecedented, said Ajai Sahni of the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi, and sent a message not only to his own people but to the international community. "India expects global support to launch more focused action against Pakistain," Sahni told Rooters. "There was tremendous pressure on the Indian prime minister to prove that he is ready to take serious action." Posted by: Fred 2016-09-30 |
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