ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

Islamabad accuses India of unleashing 'indiscriminate' firing on PoK

Pakistan's foreign ministry has summoned the Indian envoy to protest against India's shelling which reportedly killed 80 of its citizens in occupied Kashmir.

Islamabad accused India of intensifying cross-border firing in PoK, but said it did not consider the escalation ''a prelude to war.''

''So far there has been no effort (by the Indians) to cross the Line of Control,'' Minister for Kashmir Affairs Majid Malik said at a press conference.

Malik, a retired general, said 43 civilians have been killed since Indian troops started firing on July 29 -- ''with all types of weapons except aircraft and nuclear bombs'' -- all along the LoC.

An aide of the Pak foreign minister added that three civilians were killed by Indian shelling in Pasrur, which borders Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistani troops, Malik said, returned fire, killing 19 army personnel, including three officers.

Military commanders of the two sides were talking on the hot line, he continued, but their conversation has made no difference to the situation.

India's Acting High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal, however, rejected the Pakistani protest, an official at the Indian high commission in Islamabad said on condition of anonymity. The official said while he had no confirmation, Indian troops had not fired at all in the recent days.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report