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2016-10-02 India-Pakistan
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India evacuates border villages amid reprisal fears
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RANBIR SINGH PORA - India evacuated thousands of people living near the border with Pakistan on Friday, a day after claiming it carried out strikes in Kashmir that have dramatically escalated tensions with Pakistan.
Authorities in parts of northern India said they were evacuating villages within 10 kilometres of the border.
In Held Kashmir, police said more than 1,500 had moved away from areas where there was a risk of cross-border shelling, as fears of military escalation mounted.
"Most women and children have fled the village and taken shelter here," said one woman at a sports hall in Jammu's Ranbir Singh Pora town. "Our men are staying back to take care of the cattle, but we are scared," said the woman, who gave her name as Bibi.
Images from the northern Indian state of Punjab showed people piling bedding and cooking equipment onto trailers and cramming into crowded buses as security forces stood guard.
Jaswant Kaur said people in his village of Chak Allah Baksh in Punjab had been told to leave their homes. "Of course it's not a nice feeling to leave your home, crops, cattle and everything else behind," the 55-year-old told AFP. "Living here means we are always on the edge. We are really distressed."
According to Reuters, India evacuated more than 10,000 villagers living near the border, and ordered security forces to upgrade surveillance along the frontier in Occupied Kashmir.
Hundreds of villages were being cleared along a 15 km (9 mile) strip in the lowland region of Jammu and further north on the Line of Control in the Himalayan mountains of Kashmir.
Modi's government has been struggling to contain protests on the streets of Kashmir, where more than 80 civilians have been killed and thousands wounded in the last 10 weeks after a young rebel leader was killed by Indian forces.
Pakistan said on Friday that PM Nawaz Sharif's special envoys had arrived in Beijing to brief China on the deteriorating situation in Indian-held Kashmir. China, a Pakistan ally, expressed its concern, Pakistan's foreign ministry said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday assured that all attempts will be made to secure the release of a soldier who inadvertently crossed over to Pakistan.
"All attempts are being made to secure his release," Rajnath told reporters in New Delhi after attending a meet to discuss internal security situation. The home minister also said that New Delhi will take up the matter with Islamabad for his early release. 
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Posted by badanov 2016-10-02 00:00||
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