Steve Quayle News Alerts

May 22, 2002

Pakistani troops attacked a village in Indian Kashmir today, hours after Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee told his frontline troops to prepare to fight.

The Pakistani shells sparked a fire which burned at least 60 houses in Manyari village in Kashmir's Kathua sector, 82 kilometres south of Jammu.

Two Indian soldiers were also injured in Pakistani firing from Kashmir's Palakote sector in Rajouri district, 170 kilometres south of Jammu, according to army sources.

Mr Vajpayee's uncompromising speeches on the Kashmir front line heightened tension in the region and brought a quick response from Pakistan, which vowed to retaliate if attacked.

His arrival followed the killing of a key separatist leader at a rally in the state's summer capital. He left immediately by helicopter for a tour of frontline areas, where Indian troops are engaged in artillery battles with Pakistani units across the border.

Cross-border shelling has killed dozens and reignited fears of war between the rival nuclear countries.

The prime minister told soldiers in Kupwara that the Indian people were behind them, adding: "Let's work for victory. Be prepared for sacrifices. But our aim should be victory because it's now time for a decisive fight."

Hundreds of soldiers patrolled the mountain roads surrounding the army base where he told them: "We'll write a new chapter of victory."

The Pakistani stock market fell 4.4 per cent today. One broker said Mr Vajpayee's statement resulted in "havoc" on the key Karachi Stock Exchange which lost 70.52 points to close at 1,527.58. Srinagar is also in the grip of a general strike, called by the All Party Hurriyat Conference - in protest at Mr Vajpayee's visit.

Masked gunmen assassinated Abdul Ghani Lone, a leading Kashmiri peace campaigner yesterday during a ceremony to mark the murder of another independence leader 12 years ago.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/05/22/ukash.xml&sSheet=
/portal/2002/05/22/ixport.html