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Pak told militants to resume
small-scale infiltrations: NYT

The Pakistani government has allowed Islamic guerrillas to resume small-scale infiltrations into Kashmir, a media report said on Friday quoting officials of three militant groups.

In separate interviews this week, members of three jehadi groups told the New York Times that while the Pakistani government halted all infiltration in May, it signalled in late July that "small-scale" infiltrations could resume.

"There was a green signal from the authorities," said an official from one militant group. "Because of that the groups took the initiative," said an official from a militant group who did not want his organisation to be named.

The officials further added that Pakistan continued to finance jehadi groups.

An official of Hizbul Mujahedeen, the largest Kashmiri group, spoke to the newspaper on the condition of anonymity, but said his organisation could be identified. Officials from the other groups asked that their organisations not be identified.

An official from another militant group said that in the past government officials had provided money, issued weapons and led groups of 10 to 15 guerrillas to points along the border where they could cross into the Indian part of Kashmir.

The militant said that Pakistani officials told his group in May that in response to intense international pressure, Pakistan was temporarily halting incursions. "We were assured it was on a temporary basis," he said.

After May, the money the group received from the government increased, he said. "In a sense, it was a bribe...a way of keeping them [the militants] happy. But camps and communication points in the Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir were closed and his group was barred from publicly raising money."

In late July, government officials signalled that infiltrations could resume, he said. His organisation established new communication posts and began sending groups of three to five cadres over the Line of Control, he told the Times.

Officials from Hizbul Mujahedeen and one other large militant group said in interviews to a Pakistani journalist working for the Times that the government signalled to them that small-scale infiltrations could resume.

But a representative of another group insisted that the government crackdown on infiltration was continuing. He said his group was receiving no government aid.

The paper said two interviews were conducted by a New York Times correspondent and two by a Pakistani journalist working for the paper.

PTI

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