Kashmir still tense as 7 more killed

As India and Pakistan seemingly dial down hostilities that brought the arch enemies to the brink of another war, a massive crackdown on militancy in the Indian-controlled Kashmir region is killing both extremists and security personnel in big numbers.
At the Line of Control, the de facto border between the nuclear-armed neighbours, there was relative calm in the past 24 hours, their armies said on Sunday. The exchange of fire in the past few days has killed seven people on the Pakistani side and four on the Indian side, though the release of a downed Indian fighter pilot by Pakistan on Friday night has helped de-escalate tensions.
‘By and large the LoC was calm last night but you never know when it will become active again,’ said Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, a minister in Pakistani Kashmir. ‘Tension still prevails.’
Indian warplanes carried out air strikes on Tuesday inside northeast Pakistan’s Balakot on what New Delhi called extremist camps. Islamabad denied any such camps existed, as did some villagers in the area when Reuters visited.
Nevertheless, Pakistan retaliated on Wednesday with its own aerial mission in a show of force. The countries have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.
In Indian-ruled Kashmir, troops on Sunday shot dead two militants after a three-day gun battle that also killed five security force personnel, taking the total death toll to 25 in the past two weeks. The fresh anti-militancy drive was launched after a Kashmiri suicide bomber, a member of a Pakistan-based extremist group, killed 40 Indian paramilitary police on February 14.
The government of prime minister Narendra Modi has also come down hard on separatist groups operating in Kashmir, including by banning the Jamaat-e-Islami party, two of whose clerics were detained in raids on Saturday night.
On Sunday residents observed a shutdown in South Kashmir’s Tral area against the detentions. Shops were closed and traffic was off the roads in the area, and a protest march took place.
Indian authorities have arrested more than 300 Jamaat leaders and activists in the past two weeks, accusing the group of supporting attempts to ‘carve out an Islamic State out of India’ by destabilising the government.
Amit Shah, the president of India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party that faces a general election by May, told an election rally that the government has made it clear to the separatists that ‘if they want to live in India, they will have to speak the language of India, not Pakistan’s.
The government, however, has come under pressure from the opposition to share proof that ‘a very large number’ of militants were killed in air strikes inside Pakistan this week, after doubts were raised there were any casualties in the attack.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley, one of Modi’s top lieutenants, said on Saturday ‘no security agencies ever share operational details’ and dismissed suggestions that the escalation in tensions with Pakistan had anything to do with domestic politics ahead of the election. Pollsters expect the ruling party to benefit from the nationalistic passion sweeping the country.
Meanwhile, the United States said on Sunday it was trying to find out if Pakistan used US-built F-16 jets to down an Indian warplane, potentially in violation of US agreements, as the stand-off between the nuclear-armed Asian neighbours appeared to be easing.
Pakistan and India both carried out aerial bombing missions this week, including a clash on Wednesday that saw an Indian pilot shot down over the disputed region of Kashmir in an incident that alarmed global powers and sparked fears of a war.
A Pakistan military spokesman on Wednesday denied Indian claims that Pakistan used F-16 jets.
Pakistan returned the captured Indian pilot on Friday in a high-profile handover Islamabad touted as a ‘peace gesture’, which appeared to significantly dial down tensions, but both sides remain on high alert.
The US embassy in Islamabad said on Sunday it was looking into reports that Pakistan used F-16 jets to shoot down the Indian pilot, a potential violation of Washington’s military sale agreements that limit how Pakistan can use the planes.
‘We are aware of these reports and are seeking more information,’ a US embassy spokesperson said. ‘We take all allegations of misuse of defence articles very seriously.’
While Pakistan has denied using F-16 jets during a dogfight that downed an Indian Mig-21 warplane over Kashmir on Wednesday, it has not specified which planes it used, though it assembles Chinese-designed JF-17 fighter jets on its soil.
Pakistan has a long history of buying US military hardware, especially in the years after 2001 when Islamabad was seen as a key partner in the US-led War on Terror.
Pakistan bought several batches of F-16 planes, built by Lockheed Martin Corp, from Washington before relations soured and the United States cut off subsidised sales in 2016.
It is not clear what exactly these so-called ‘end-user agreements’ restrict Pakistan from doing. ‘The US government does not comment on or confirm pending investigations of this nature,’ the US embassy added.
On Thursday Indian officials displayed to reporters parts of what they called an air-to-air missile that can only be fired from F-16 jets, alleging they were used to bomb its side of the disputed Kashmir border on Wednesday.
A Pakistan military spokesman told reporters on Wednesday that Pakistani jets ‘locked’ on Indian targets to demonstrate Pakistan’s capacity to strike back at India, but then chose to fire in an empty field where there would be no casualties.
Pakistan said its mission on Wednesday was in retaliation for India violating its airspace and sovereignty a day earlier, when Indian jets bombed a forest area near the northern city of Balakot.
India said it struck at militant training camps, but Islamabad denied any such camps existed, as did some villagers in the area when Reuters visited.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net