ID :
37590
Sat, 12/27/2008 - 08:17
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/37590
The shortlink copeid
Pak moving fresh troops to border, cancels army leave
Islamabad, Dec 26 (PTI) Pakistan is moving additional troops to the Line of Control in PoK and international border with India, has cancelled leave for its military personnel and almost put a security alert into effect amidst tensions with India in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.
The Pakistani forces are being moved to the LoC and the
international border to protect "vital points", media reports
here said Friday.
AP quoting intelligence officials said the army's 14th
division was being redeployed to Kasur and Sialkot which faces
the R S Pura border near Jammu. The agency said some 20,000
troops were on the move.
The movement of the troops comes as officials said that
all leave of the armed forces' personnel had been cancelled
and a security alert put in place.
Pakistani media reports said that most of the troops
being redeployed were being moved out from the restive North
West Frontier Province (NWFP), where Pakistan's army is
carrying out a major operation to flush out Taliban and
al-Qaeda militants.
The Army's 10th and 11th Divisions have also been put
on high alert and troops moved to forward posts on the border
facing Rajouri and Poonch sectors in Kashmir, 'Daily Times'
reported.
This troop reinforcement is in addition to the formation
already deployed in the PoK, Sialkot and Lahore sectors. The
Pakistan army has an independent corps strength deployment in
PoK as well as Jhelum.
Pakistan's military spokesman declined to give details
of fresh troop movement but media quoted other officials as
saying that a number of brigades are being moved towards the
frontier in the Lahore sector.
The reports said the Pakistan Army had already moved its
10th Brigade to Lahore and ordered the 3rd Armoured Brigade to
head towards Jhelum alleging a concentration of Indian troops
on the border.
There have also been reports in the Pakistani media
that the country's Air Force was in a state of high alert and
was conducting aerial surveillance of the Chashma power plant
and other sensitive sites amidst fears of a possible surgical
strike by India in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks.
The PAF enhanced its vigilance on Monday and scrambled
warplanes to conduct sorties over cities like Islamabad,
Rawalpindi and Lahore as well as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
In recent public comments, Pakistan Prime Minister
Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh
have both ruled out a war between the two countries.
Echoing President Asif Ali Zardari's statement that
Pakistan would not be the first to use nuclear weapons in the
event of a conflict with India, Defence Minister Chaudhry
Ahmed Mukhtar said that atomic weapons served a deterrent for
both countries.
Meanwhile, former President Pervez Musharraf said India
"cannot dare cast an evil eye" on Pakistan as long as the
armed forces are there to defend the country.
Musharraf, who resigned in August to avoid an
impeachment, threw his weight behind the government, saying
the country had a democratically elected President and Prime
Minister who would take steps for its security. PTI RHL
SAK
The Pakistani forces are being moved to the LoC and the
international border to protect "vital points", media reports
here said Friday.
AP quoting intelligence officials said the army's 14th
division was being redeployed to Kasur and Sialkot which faces
the R S Pura border near Jammu. The agency said some 20,000
troops were on the move.
The movement of the troops comes as officials said that
all leave of the armed forces' personnel had been cancelled
and a security alert put in place.
Pakistani media reports said that most of the troops
being redeployed were being moved out from the restive North
West Frontier Province (NWFP), where Pakistan's army is
carrying out a major operation to flush out Taliban and
al-Qaeda militants.
The Army's 10th and 11th Divisions have also been put
on high alert and troops moved to forward posts on the border
facing Rajouri and Poonch sectors in Kashmir, 'Daily Times'
reported.
This troop reinforcement is in addition to the formation
already deployed in the PoK, Sialkot and Lahore sectors. The
Pakistan army has an independent corps strength deployment in
PoK as well as Jhelum.
Pakistan's military spokesman declined to give details
of fresh troop movement but media quoted other officials as
saying that a number of brigades are being moved towards the
frontier in the Lahore sector.
The reports said the Pakistan Army had already moved its
10th Brigade to Lahore and ordered the 3rd Armoured Brigade to
head towards Jhelum alleging a concentration of Indian troops
on the border.
There have also been reports in the Pakistani media
that the country's Air Force was in a state of high alert and
was conducting aerial surveillance of the Chashma power plant
and other sensitive sites amidst fears of a possible surgical
strike by India in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks.
The PAF enhanced its vigilance on Monday and scrambled
warplanes to conduct sorties over cities like Islamabad,
Rawalpindi and Lahore as well as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
In recent public comments, Pakistan Prime Minister
Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh
have both ruled out a war between the two countries.
Echoing President Asif Ali Zardari's statement that
Pakistan would not be the first to use nuclear weapons in the
event of a conflict with India, Defence Minister Chaudhry
Ahmed Mukhtar said that atomic weapons served a deterrent for
both countries.
Meanwhile, former President Pervez Musharraf said India
"cannot dare cast an evil eye" on Pakistan as long as the
armed forces are there to defend the country.
Musharraf, who resigned in August to avoid an
impeachment, threw his weight behind the government, saying
the country had a democratically elected President and Prime
Minister who would take steps for its security. PTI RHL
SAK
