INDIA: KASHMIR: FIGHTING & DIPLOMACY OVER DISPUTED BORDER REGION скачать в хорошем качестве

INDIA: KASHMIR: FIGHTING & DIPLOMACY OVER DISPUTED BORDER REGION

(7 Jul 1999) Hindi/English/Nat Indian soldiers scrambled across Himalayan ridges in a battle for mountain strongholds in Kashmir, as diplomatic efforts got underway to persuade Islamic guerrillas to withdraw from Indian territory. Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said military operations will continue until all Pakistan-based forces who have crossed the 1972 ceasefire line have left. Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had agreed on Sunday that the intruding forces would be returned to the Pakistani side of the Line of Control that divides Kashmir between the two neighbors. The fiercest fighting so far in the disputed Kashmir region is under way on icy, knife-edged peaks in the Batalik sector east of Kargil. No major peaks have been recaptured, although several lower promontories have been overrun in two days of fighting that has seen more than 100 Pakistan-based fighters killed. Indian officers say at least half of those who've died are Pakistani soldiers. The Indian military says it is fighting Pakistani soldiers, Afghan mercenaries and Islamic militants. Officials said there has been no sign of withdrawal and no letup from nearly ceaseless shelling by both armies. The smoke rising out of the mountains is from Pakistani shells. An oil tanker truck near an Indian gun position along the main highway link in northern Kashmir was blown up in a Pakistani artillery bombardment on Tuesday. The blackened hulk remained on the roadside, blocking 150 civilian trucks within sight of Pakistani guns. But there was little shelling on Wednesday, as 12 Indian guns had been moved and soldiers were rolling up their tents. From Dras in Kashmir Indian supersonic jets could be seen streaking across the sky, dropping bombs in explosions of black smoke on slopes of Tiger Hill, a 5,000-metre (16,500-foot) peak. It was captured by the Indian army on Sunday. However, several spurs were still occupied by the infiltrators, who were being supported by nearly constant artillery shelling from the Pakistan side. But Islamabad said on Tuesday that it was going to call on the Muslim insurgents to pull out of Kashmir - but this has been rejected by the Muslim groups. In Delhi - the Indian Prime Minister was briefed on the Kargil situation. Atal Bihari Vajpayee inspected weapons seized by the Indian army in Kashmir. He then spoke to reporters about Pakistan's call for withdrawing Islamic guerrillas from Indian territory. SOUNDBITE: (Hindi) "In accordance with the Washington statement, they should withdraw." SUPER CATION: Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Indian Prime Minister Various other Indian officials were also at the briefing including Foreign Minister, Jaswant Singh and Defence Minister George Fernandes. Prime Minister Vajpayee said his forces were not going to stop until they were satisfied with the withdrawal. SOUNDBITE: (English) "We are not waiting , we are fighting. and we are determined to throw them out." SUPER CAPTION: Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Indian Prime Minister Pakistan maintains that the fighters - soldiers who have opposed the Indian army for two months -- are Islamic guerrillas fighting for separation of Muslim-majority Kashmir from Hindu-dominated India. Pakistan has said it will ask them to leave, but has no control over them. APTN Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...