Posted on 10/09/2005 7:31:35 PM PDT by blam
Militants' training camps wiped out
By Rahul Bedi in New Delhi
(Filed: 10/10/2005)
Training camps used by jihadists battling with the Indian army for control of Kashmir were buried by landslides or left in ruins by the earthquake, bringing hope of a new opportunity for peace-making after a 16-year Islamic insurgency.
India and Pakistan, nuclear rivals who both lay claim to Kashmir in its entirety, have fought two of their three wars over the territory.
Security analysts said yesterday that the earthquake in Pakistan's highly-militarised Kashmir region had "significantly depreciated'' the insurgents' capacity to carry on their fight for independence in neighbouring Indian-administered Kashmir.
"The militant groups and their army handlers will now be totally absorbed in relief, rescue and rehabilitation efforts,'' said Arun Sahgal, of the United Service Institution in New Delhi.
India claims that Pakistan backs various insurgent groups, assisting them across the line of control that divides the disputed territory. Pakistan denies the claim.
Military sources said that an estimated 1,000 Pakistani soldiers died in the earthquake after their concrete-roofed bunkers along the Kashmir frontier collapsed. Security sources said 15 militant training camps had been put out of action by the earthquake.
Almost all groups fighting the Indian army in Kashmir had ''camp offices'' either in Muzafarrabad, the devastated capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, or surrounding areas.
Senior Indian army officers recently claimed the existence of least 55 militant training camps in the region.
Many in New Delhi see the earthquake as presenting a new opportunity for India and Pakistan to overcome their past hostilities. "This is an opportunity for India and Pakistan to forget their differences," said N M Prusty, of the aid agency Care.
Within hours of the earthquake, Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister, telephoned President Pervez Musharraf of Pakstan to offer help. The countries' military chiefs were in touch with one another, as were commanders along the Kashmir frontier. An Indian soldier who mistakenly crossed into Pakistani territory after the earthquake was allowed to return yesterday, an unthinkable gesture in the past.
boy...sounds like GOD is trying to tell them something!
There is an Allah.
Allah has spoken! Allah be praised! /sarcasm off
Time to give the earthquake a military rank?
At what hour [local time] did the eartquake occur there? If during "working hours" then in all probability the camps were but lightly occupied, their population being on shooting ranges and the like.
Oh, what a shame.
"Achmed... you prayed to the wrong allah!!!"
Oops, methinks Allah was overruled.
I doubt it. Allah would have to exist to be "overrruled".
Hundreds of Indian soliders who fight these militants were killed when their barracks was destroyed, as well.
Holy Moly....the kind of earthquake that makes a difference...seriously praying for all innocents involved.
I'll let the Lord deal with the terrorist jihad scum.
Don't know. Didn't they say the kids were in school?
Pat Robertson, is that you?
There is no "Allah". Jehovah has spoken.
There a big difference between the camps being
"wiped out" and everyone in the camps being
wiped out too... One is an inconveinience to
our enemies, and the other, the hand of God.
>B-}
Allah does not like what is going on and he is shaking them up, putting the fear in them.
But But But... Musharif told us there were no terrorists in Pak....
Now we have to wait to see if Osama is taking a cement nap.
God: "Oh enough of this already! Let me show you how to fight a war."
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