Author: Times News Network
Publication: The Economic Times
Date: November 8, 2004
URL: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/915435.cms
It appears another instance of the
left hand not knowing what the right is doing.
Barely hours after Shivraj Patil
claimed in Srinagar that there was a drop in infiltration from across the
border, the Army repudiated the home minister saying that Pakistan has
stepped up its efforts to push terrorists into the Valley.
According to the defence ministry,
in the first six days of November, the Army has foiled four major infiltration
attempts from across the line of control in which 11 militants, mostly
Pakistani nationals, have been killed.
Army spokesman said the latest attempt
last night involved five terrorists, who attempted to cross the LoC in
Mendhar sector in Jammu province.
Defence minister Pranab Mukherjee
explained the sudden spurt in pushing militants across LoC as part of a
pattern to infiltrate large batches of foreign militants before the high
passes become impassable due to heavy snow.
"It appears that militants across
the border are making desperate attempts to cross over to the Indian side
before the mountains become impassable," the defence minister.
Home ministry sources, who defended
Mr Patil's statement said the minister may have been comparing the infiltration
trends to the last year while Mr Mukherjee's figures compared infiltration
over the last two months.
Meanwhile, army spokes-man said
that Army had foiled another major attempt on Friday night killing five
Lakshar- e-Toiba militants and recovered five AK-47 assault rifles.
