Pakistan Cancels Army Leave Over Tension With India: Official(Moves Troops to Indian Border)

[tekisui]

Source: AFP

ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Pakistan has cancelled leave for "operational" armed forces personnel and redeployed troops to the Indian border amid simmering tensions with New Delhi, a military official said on Friday.

Relations between the South Asian neighbours have been badly strained since the Mumbai attacks, which New Delhi has blamed on Pakistan-based militants. Islamabad says India has not provided it with evidence on which to act.

Both sides have said they do not want war, but warn they would act if provoked.

Pakistan's chief military spokesman, Major General Athar Abbas, declined to comment, but a senior defence ministry official confirmed some troops were being withdrawn from the restive northwest and sent to the Indian border.

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In tandem with the military moves, civil defence authorities have launched a public awareness campaign in Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistani part of Kashmir, a region ruled by both India and Pakistan but claimed by both in full.

"We have launched an awareness campaign in Kashmir to prepare people for self-defence and response in an emergency situation, amid the looming threat of possible Indian aggression," civil defence official Ghulam Rasool Nagra said.

more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jngAOJctXStP97lBi6CWOjRPYVOw

[tekisui]

1. Pakistan moves troops toward Indian border

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan began moving thousands of troops away from the Afghan border toward India on Friday amid tensions following the Mumbai attacks, intelligence officials said.

The move represents a sharp escalation in the standoff between the nuclear-armed neighbors and will hurt Pakistan's U.S.-backed campaign against al-Qaida and Taliban taking place near Afghanistan's border.

Two intelligence officials said the army's 14th Division was being redeployed to Kasur and Sialkot, close to the Indian border. They said some 20,000 troops were on the move. Earlier Friday, a security official said that all troop leave had been canceled.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hkiMxbHNH0BqgpWA2ZG6VD6wVTmAD95AD7F02

[Dennis Donovan]

2. Kicked and recommended - serious escalation in tensions...

This is something to keep an eye on...:scared: