| A regularly updated account of Pakistan-supported terrorism in Kashmir |
| Current Issue |
| October 1998 |
| Saturday, October 31, 1998: Pakistan-supported terrorists continue to play with the lives of Kashmiri children |
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Yet another report surfaced about children from the terrorism-infested Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir being forcibly inducted into militancy training in Pakistani terrorist camps. The Tribune reported that two more teenage boys, who were on their way to these camps, were rescued by Indian security forces in Pulwama town. Meanwhile, the Indian Army reports that three more civilians have been killed by terrorists in Doda district of the state. The Indian Army publication also reports that five terrorists of the Harkat-ul-Ansar group, based in Muzzafarabad (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir), have been killed in fighting with Indian security forces in Poonch district of the state. Harkat-ul-Ansar is recognized as a Pakistani terrorist group by the annual US State Department Report on international terrorism. |
| Thursday, October 29, 1998: Pakistan-supported terrorists use children as shield during encounter |
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Terrorists used 3 innocent children as a human shield during an encounter with Indian security forces in a village in Poonch district, south-west of Srinagar and in direct path of infiltration routes from a cluster of Pakistani terrorist camps east of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The terrorists were killed during the encounter while the children were saved by the security forces. Encounters are continuing in the village, which had been a recent focus of militant activities, according to latest reports in The Hindustan Times.
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| Monday, October 26, 1998: Pakistan-supported terrorists continue to kill in Jammu and Kashmir |
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The targeting of civilians by Pakistani-supported terrorists in many regions of Jammu and Kashmir state continued today. A local politician was shot dead in Baramulla, while the body of another civilian was recovered in Doda district, which is heavily infested with terrorists. A civilian was shot dead in Anantnag by the terrorists, while another was greviously wounded in a terrorist attack in Kulgam (The Tribune).
While the international media covers plenty of details about terrorism in Israel, where a single grenade attack can potentially derail 'end-game talks', very little attention is paid to the killing of thousands of civilians by Pakistani-supported terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir every year. The state has become a permanent killing field for terrorists trained and armed in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is unfortunate that very little is being done globally to bring about sufficent pressure on Pakistan to end its central role in this continuing tragedy. |
| Sunday, October 25, 1998: Terrorist chief exposes Pakistan's role in Jammu and Kashmir |
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A massive meeting organized by the Pakistani fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami party in Islamabad was addressed by Syed Salahuddin, chief of Hizbul Mujahideen, one of the main Kashmiri terrorist groups based in Pakistan (Indian Express). Salahuddin spoke openly about 'hundreds of Pakistanis' taking part in the terror campaign in Kashmir to wrest it away from India. This is yet another example of Pakistani officials providing blanket freedom of operation for terrorist groups implicated in thousands of civilian deaths in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, and again exposes the crucial role that Pakistan is playing in terrorism in that state.
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| Saturday, October 24, 1998: IMF aid under consideration for a premier state-sponsor of terrorism |
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Pakistan is reportly again pleading to IMF and other foreign donors for help in its debt problems (Kashmir Times). It is indeed important to maintain economic stability in a country on the verge of sinking under a mountain of debt and slipping into the no-return land of Islamic fundamentalism. However, foreign donors need to be cautioned into looking beyond the surface of these problems. A large portion of Pakistani debt results from sinking its resources and energies into the vast terrorist enterprise aimed against India. This has resulted in Pakistan gaining the dubious distinction of being one of the premier state-sponsors of terrorism in the world . Such an immense enterprise can only be sustained by stealing from a country's own economic health priorities. Furthermore, any foreign aid provided to Pakistan will inevitably end up indirectly supporting its terrorist enterprise.
Consequently, we demand that any foreign aid to Pakistan be given on the explicit condition that it IMMEDIATELY and UNRESERVEDLY END ALL SUPPORT TO TERRORISTS, disband all terrorist camps on areas under its control, and provide written assurances, monitored by international agencies, of not providing either material support or refuge to any terrorist groups or individual terrorists in the future. Pakistani-supported terrorists continued their incessant targeting of civilians in Jammu and Kashmir state. As reported by Reuters today, terrorists barged into a house in Kupwara district, north of Srinagar, and shot dead three civilians. Such incidences are daily occurences and this unending reign of terror is a direct consequence of the tremendous terrorist machinery dumped onto the state by Pakistan. |
| Friday, October 23, 1998: Beheadings by Pakistani-supported terrorists reported; children being inducted into terrorism |
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Reports continue about Kashmiri children being coerced and abducted for induction into the Pakistani-supported terrorist campaign. Kashmir Times reported today that seven children, 15-16 years of age, were on their way to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir for arms training when the terrorist hideout was raided by Indian security forces and the boys saved from the terrible future in store for them. Pakistani-supported terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir continued their diabolical campaign with increased incidences of torture deaths of civilians. Two innocent civilians were tortured and then beheaded by terrorists in the militant-infested region of Doda in the state (Kashmir Times, October 23, 1998). |
| Wednesday, October 21, 1998: Terror, torture by Pakistani-sponsored terrorists in J&K continues |
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Over 750 kg (1.5 tons) of Pakistani explosives were found in search operations in North Kashmir (Times of India). The explosives were meant for office buildings, public places and car bombs. Pakistan's arming and supply of terrorist groups operating in Kashmir and elsewhere in India continues unabated. The The Tribune reported today that Pakistani Army officers exercise direct control over militants and mercenaries operating in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. These terrorists have spread fear in the district by killing over 40 civilians in the past month. Poonch is south-west of Srinagar, and happens to be across the border from a cluster of Pakistani terrorist camps east of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, thus being in the direct infiltration path. The terrorists have resorted to torture and killings of civilians who refuse to cooperate with them, effectively silencing local dissent. No where else in the world today is a country sponsoring this level of daily terrorist violence. A mountain of evidence points to Pakistan being a premier state sponsor of terrorism in the world. In the meanwhile, the international media wonders whether to even use the term 'terrorism' in Kashmir. |
| Tuesday, October 20, 1998: Pakistan has more than Kashmir in its terrorist sights |
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As Pakistan's terrorist role in India unravels, it may serve us well to remember that Kashmir is not Pakistan's first terrorist enterprise in India. The first Indian state to suffer at the hands of the Pakistani terrorist machine was Punjab. While the population of Punjab state has been united in defeating the worst intentions of terrorists instigated and equipped by Pakistan, the latter continues to hold on to a dream of destroying India through spreading terrorism. The Pioneer reported today that four terrorists trained and armed by Pakistani intelligence were arrested in Gurdaspur district of the state of Punjab, and a large cache of explosives and detonaters were recovered from them. The four were on a mission to bomb buses, trains and crowded places in the state, and thus to revive terrorism in the region. The terrorists were associated with a base in Sialkot, Pakistan, one of the many locations mapped in A Bird's Eye View of the Pakistani Terrorist Machinery.
It is clear that Pakistan's repeated claims of Kashmir being the 'core' issue in all dealings with India have little basis other than propaganda aimed at diverting the spotlight from its everspreading terrorist tentacles, which extend far beyond Kashmir in India. |
| Sunday, October 18, 1998: Pakistan's terrorist role not a secret any more |
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Unravelling of Pakistan's terrorist secret continues: Recent news accounts in the international media continue to detail Pakistan's sponsorship of terrorism in Kashmir. The Washington Post talked about evidence of Kashmiri insurgents being trained and armed by Pakistan's main intelligence agency.
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