|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Saturday, 6 September 2003 |
 |
|
 |
World | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Indian forces, militants locked in marathon gunbattle JAMMU, India, Friday (AFP) Seven Islamic militants continued to hold more than 1,500 Indian troops at bay Friday as a marathon gunbattle in the thick jungles of Kashmir stretched into a fourth day. The clash that erupted Tuesday between seven rebels and Indian forces in the dense Kathua forests of southern Indian Kashmir was Friday described as the longest anti-guerrilla operation in the region's 14-year-old Islamic insurgency. "It is the longest stand-off in Jammu and Kashmir," a security official said, as experts warned the inconclusive fighting could sap the morale of troops and put a question mark over the Indian military strategy. Officials engaged in supervising the gunbattle in dense forests near the village of Ghatti, however, rejected the criticism. "Our strategy is to wear them out. We have no time-frame," said Kashmir Police Inspector-General P.L. Gupta on the fighting, which so far has led to the death of one policeman and injuries to seven other security personnel. "Also, the encounter got prolonged as we did not want our boys to get killed by taking any hasty step in flushing out the rebels," Gupta said. M.M. Khajuria, a former Kashmir police chief, said the rebels were forcing a local resident to act as a guide in the forests where visibility is sometimes less than three feet (one metre), and urged the security forces to step up operations. "Our forces should evolve a new strategy so that with better firepower they could flush out the rebels from areas like Ghatti in a short time," he said. "If the encounter continues for (another) three to four days it can not only cause exhaustion among the troops and the police but also lower their morale." Friday morning saw a lull in fighting after six hours of intense exchanges that erupted 11:30 pm (1800 GMT) Thursday in Kathua, 85 kilometres (53 miles) south of Jammu, winter capital of Indian Kashmir, the officials said. The rebels were firing from assault rifles and shooting rocket propelled grenades while Indian troops, estimated to be 1,500 in number, were using machineguns to flush out the seven guerrillas. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
