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Pakistan pumping advanced weapons into Kashmir says defence ministry

In a calculated bid to step up its proxy war to wrest Kashmir, Pakistan is pumping in increasingly sophisticated arms into the state. Arms ranging from Chinese-made rocket launchers, anti-aircraft machine guns and US-made anti-armour weapons have been seized by Indian troops recently.

The variety of advanced weapons recovered from Pakistani-trained and armed Kashmiri militants is a pointer towards Pakistan's covert war unleashed in the guise of insurgency.

According to the defence ministry, rocket propelled grenades, anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, pistols, sniper and assault rifles, light mortars and electronic triggers are among the deadly arsenal seized by Indian troops.

Some of these arms were displayed in Parliament House recently to bring home to the people the chilling reality of the deadly game being played by Pakistan in Kashmir.

The ministry's accompanying brochure -- entitled Proxy War -- documented the variety and sophistication of arms supplied to the militants by Pakistan. It also summarised the unleashing of a covert war under the code-name 'Operation Topaq' following Pakistan's failure to wrest Kashmir through conventional warfare.

It is estimated that the quantity of arms captured in Kashmir would be enough to arm two divisions of the army.

Besides lethal weaponry, Pakistan has also provided militants with state-of-the-art communication equipment to keep in touch with their mentors. These include Kenwood, Icom (frequency hopping and burst communication) sets and transreceivers. They have also been equipped with night-vision devices to facilitate infiltration and movement across the border, done mostly at night.

Moreover, lightness and manoeuverability of the weapons makes smuggling them across the border an easier task.

The ministry also reveals that Kashmiri militants are armed with Chinese-made 9 mm pistols. Troops have also recovered Mauser pistols, US-made Smith and Wesson revolvers, Spanish pistols, Pakistan-made 7.63 mm pistols, German pistols and Pakistan-made 10 chamber revolvers from the militants.

Among the more advanced systems smuggled into Kashmir are Chinese-made rocket launchers (calibre 107 mm, range 3000 m), G-15 grenade launchers (calibre 40 mm, range 420 mm), rocket propelled grenades (calibre 40 mm, range 500 m) and Chinese-made anti-aircraft machine gun type-77 (calibre 12.7 mm, range 1600 m).

Electronic triggers including the simple but deadly octopus circuit capable of exploding eight bombs simultaneously were also supplied by Pakistan.

For greater impact, ultras had been equipped with general purpose machine guns (calibre 7.62 mm, range 1500 m), Luger sub machine guns (calibre 9 mm, range 75 m), UK-made Bren machine guns (calibre 7.62 mm, range 1500 m), US-made M-72 light anti-armour weapon (calibre 66 mm, range 220 m), AK SU-74 sub machine guns (calibre 5.45 mm, range 400 meters), AK-56 rifles (calibre 7.62 mm, range 300 m), Dragunov sniper rifles (calibre 7.62 mm, range 1200 m), Iraqi Al-Jaleel light mortars (calibre 60 mm, range 2500 m), Ak-47 fixed butt rifles with attachments including silencer, grenade launcher and drum magazine and AK-47 rifles (calibre 7.62 mm, range 300 m).

Indian troops seized 13,115 AK-47 rifles, 454 sniper rifles, 26 sten guns and 4,922 pistols. 31,663 hand grenades, 5,331 anti-personnel mines, 349 anti-tank mines, 814 rocket propelled grenades, 9,809 including some 2.6 million rounds of ammunition were also recovered.

The sophisticated non-weaponary equipment included US-made advanced communication sets with printers, German-made advanced Steiner binoculars with built-in compass and night-reading capability. At least 1,240 radio sets were also recovered.

Pakistan's secret service agency, Inter Services Intelligence received a lot of advanced weapons and equipment when it was aiding the CIA operations against the Soviets in Afghanistan. ''It was the right time to attack India with a low-intensity and sabotage operation,'' read the brochure.

UNI

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