Political upheavals will make ISI busier: Ved Malik
By Dinesh Kumar
The Times of India
May 3, 1999
Title: Political upheavals will make ISI busier: Ved Malik
Author: By Dinesh Kumar
Publication: The Times of India
Date: May 3, 1999
Chief of army staff General Ved Prakash Malik has said the possibility
of the Pakistani army and the inter-services intelligence (ISI) taking
advantage of the current political situation in order to intensify the
proxy war in Kashmir cannot be ruled out.
"It is our assessment that Pakistan will continue to pursue
belligerence, abet infiltration and indulge in proxy war at a higher
level. The recent Lahore declaration has not in any way changed the
ground situation in Kashmir. If anything, the Pakistani army and ISI
are still as active in aiding and abetting terrorism in the state," he
told The Times of India here on Sunday.
"All recent intelligence reports indicate a greater planning and
effort on the part of the Pakistani army to infiltrate terrorists
along the Line of Control (LoC) as well as the Jammu stretch of the
International Border," he added. The ISI is headed and controlled by
the Pakistani army. Pointing to how there has been a qualitative
upgrading of weaponry in the state, General Malik said militants were
now using night vision devices, satellite telephones for
communication, high frequency radio sets with burst communication
capability and more sophisticated improvised explosive devices to name
a few.
Attempts to infiltrate terrorists have shown a marked increase in
April. The number of attempts is remarkably "more than normal" than
those made in around the same period in preceding years, the army
chief said. There appears to be an element of desperation to intensify
terrorism in the state," he said pointing out that there were reports
of criminals being released from Pakistani jails to join the terrorist
movement in the state. "There has been a rise in infiltration of
terrorists belonging to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan Occupied
Kashmir (POK)," he said.
"A sense of desperation appears to be evident in the manner the
militants have been eliminating anyone suspected to be a loyal
citizen," the army chief said while referring to the recent massacre
of nine members of a family in Kupwara district. In a fundamentalist
move, the pro-Pakistan Lashkar-e-Toiba last week directed young women
wearing tight- fit clothes in the valley. Of late, the terrorists in
Kashmir have been focusing their killing spree in Rajauri- Poonch
sector of the state.
Commenting on deficiencies in the army's counter-insurgency equipment
in the state, Gen. Malik said, "We have waken up a little late in
procurement of weapons and equipment required by our troops in
Kashmir. Even now I feel that the pace needs to be accelerated," he
added.
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