M A I N   N E W S

4 soldiers killed in suicide attack
Lashker raid on post repulsed

SRINAGAR, Nov 5 (UNI) — Four soldiers, including a junior commissioned officer (JCO), and two Lashker-e-Toiba militants were killed and six soldiers wounded in a fierce suicidal attack by militants on an Army post in the frontier district of Kupwara in North Kashmir today.

Elsewhere in the valley, four militants and a surrendered militant were killed, while the operation jointly launched by militants in the Wathoora region of Badgam district entered the fourth day today, official sources said.

A defence spokesman said Army troops foiled an attempt by Lashker-e-Toiba militants to storm a post at Magam in the Handwara area of Kupwara district early today, killing two Lashker-e-Toiba militants but losing three soldiers.

However, official sources said four soldiers, including a JCO, were killed and six soldiers wounded when militants stormed the Army camp at Magam around 4 am today and engaged the troops in intense firing.

The sources identified the dead soldiers as JCO Ram Nath Ram, Havaldar Arun Kumar, Lance Naik Fareed Ali Khan and jawan Man Kumar Singh, while the militants killed were Abu Abdullah Rehman and Abu Talha Sani.

Two AK assault rifles, eight magazines, two disposable rocket launchers and three grenades were seized from the killed militants.

The troops shot dead an unidentified militant at Watergam in Baramula district late last night and seized two grenades from him.

Two more militants, including a foreign, were killed during an encounter at Kandi in Kupwara district yesterday. Some arms and ammunition were seized from them.

The spokesman said the security forces also killed an unidentified militant at Harni-Nar in the Mendhar sector of Poonch last evening. A rifle was seized from him.

Militants shot dead a surrendered militant, Mohammad Ramzan, in his house at Rebon in the Sopore area of Baramula and wounded a civilian Ahad Wani at Machil in Kupwara district last night, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the search operation launched in Batpora village of Wathoora continued for the fourth day today with no fresh fighting reported between the militants and the search parties.

Militants from a nearby village opened fire on soldiers last evening but there was no report of any casualty, officials said.

They said over two dozen residential houses were gutted during the four-day-long ongoing operation which witnessed fierce encounters claiming the lives of six militants, five securitymen and two teenaged girls.

The joint operation by the Army, the police and paramilitary forces was launched in the village on Thursday evening following specific information about the presence of militants there.

Pak using Nepal for terrorism: book
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 5 — The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan has been using Nepal as a staging ground for its subversive activities aimed at destabilising the situation in this country. Since 1966, Pakistan has unleashed Operation Sanatan from the Himalayan kingdom by organising fanatical Muslim organisations in the areas of Nepal bordering India. Under Operation Sanatan, arms training is imparted to Muslim youths, besides providing assistance to militant groups in the eastern parts of this country and establishing contacts with secessionist elements in Bihar, north Bengal, Assam, Punjab and Delhi.

Consequent to the ISI finding, a firm foothold in Nepal especially along the 1751-km long largely unregulated border with India, the Muslim population in the Nepal has increased alarmingly. From an original Muslim population of virtually zero, Nepal today has more than half-a-million Muslims in the towns and villages close to the border with India.

These startling disclosures have been made in a forthcoming book — The Pakistan Trap — which is a compilation of indepth essays from a dozen seasoned officials who have been directly involved in policy making in the union government. The book has essays from eminent personalities like former Cabinet Secretary T. S. R. Subramanian, former Foreign Secretary J. N. Dixit, former Chief of Army Staff, Gen V. N. Sharma, well known strategic expert K. Subramanyam, former union Home Secretary N. N. Vohra, former Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal N. C. Suri, former Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral S. M. Nanda, former Central Bureau of Investigation Director S. K. Datta, former Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Operations), Admiral Menon, and noted Islamic scholar Sultan Shahin.

The Pakistan Trap observes that since 1991, there has been a systematic effort by the ISI to make Nepal a springboard for enlarging its cross-border terrorism in India. The strategy is to infiltrate Pakistani and Afghan nationals into India in the garb of Nepali Muslims. The book is edited by journalist author Rajeev Sharma.

Quoting official figures, the book points out that the Muslim community in Nepal has grown from 2 per cent of the population in 1981 to 5 per cent in 1991. Data compiled by the Nepal Election Commission in connection with the recently concluded general election in that landlocked country indicates that this figure can well be close to 10 per cent now. It is obvious that Pakistan’s liberal funding primarily to encourage Islamic activities is a major contributing factor. The frequent visit of Tabliah Jamats from Pakistan to Nepal’s Terai region appears to be part of ISI’s drive to set up a network of “talent spotters” and agent provocateurs along the Indo-Nepal border for giving an added impetus to subversive activities in India.

Essays in the book focus on Pakistan from all angles — diplomacy, military, economy, politics, terrorism, ISI, Islamic fundamentalism, Taliban, Saudi Arabian fugitive Osama bin Laden, the nuclear issue and the attempted intelligence encirclement of India.

In his introduction to the book, Mr Dixit firmly believes that India has only one option in dealing with Pakistan. He says, “Remain firm in maintaining our cohesion, unity and territorial integrity while managing the adversary relationship in a rational manner to the extent possible ensuring that Pakistan does not cross the threshold which might lead to war.”

The former foreign secretary notes that the entire objective of Pakistani policies is to get a third party, particularly the USA, involved in mediation in the hope that this will pressurise India to compromise on Kashmir and other issues on Pakistan’s terms. Further, Mr Dixit is of the opinion that of the two countries Pakistan would be more inclined towards using the nuclear option which will definitely compel India to retaliate similarly. He predicts that in case a nuclear conflict were to start between India and Pakistan, the USA and other important powers will “decisively and physically intervene.”

Mr Dixit acknowledges, “There is a discernible and gradual shift in the policies of the USA and western democracies in favour of India because of our economic performance, our military and technological capabilities and the responsible manner in which we behaved during the Kargil conflict.”