-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! India Fires at Pakistani Planes By Binoo Joshi Associated Press Writer Monday, Feb. 19, 2001; 12:27 p.m. EST JAMMU, India –– Indian army gunners fired at two Pakistani reconnaissance planes intruding into India's air space in Jammu-Kashmir on Monday, officials said. Army sources said one plane was believed to have been shot down, and that there was "an explosion followed by smoke from the other side." In New Delhi, an Indian Air Force source said the planes entered Indian territory around 2:30 p.m. local time. The source said the planes are believed to have been low-flying Mushaq trainer aircraft on a reconnaissance mission. Indian ground troops spotted them and opened fire, forcing them to return, the air force officer said. The Indian military was looking for wreckage in the area but it appeared that they had crossed over into Pakistani territory, the sources said. In Pakistan, army spokesman Col. Saulat Raza refused to comment. Pakistan's air force said it had no knowledge of the incident. Indian guns engaged the aircraft in the Chhamb Sector, said Col. S.P.K. Singh, the northern command army spokesman. The area is about 35 miles northwest of Jammu, the state's winter capital. India was lodging a complaint with Pakistan over the incident, the spokesman said. In the past, both India and Pakistan have alleged violations of air space against each other, but Monday's incident was the first in more than a year. The worst air clash occurred in August 1999 when Indian fighter planes shot down a Pakistani surveillance aircraft, the French-built Atlantic-I, over Kori Creek, a boggy expanse in the western Kutch peninsula. Sixteen Pakistani servicemen were killed. A day later, Pakistani troops fired a surface-to-air missile toward three Indian military helicopters flying journalists over the marshy border region. In a separate development, Kashmiri militants killed 15 Indian soldiers and wounded several others in an overnight attack on an army convoy in troubled Kashmir, rebels said Monday. Islamic guerrillas belonging to the Pakistan-based Al Badar Mujahedeen group reportedly ambushed the military convoy with rockets, automatic assault rifles and grenades. The attack occurred in Badgam in Indian Kashmir, they said. A statement issued by the group in Islamabad said rebels and Indian troops waged a bitter gunbattle for several hours. One rebel was killed. India accuses Pakistan of fomenting violence on its Kashmir territory and of backing Islamic militants waging a 12-year secessionist uprising. Pakistan denies the charge. Both countries lay claim to a united Kashmir, which was divided between the two uneasy neighbors after British rule of the region ended in 1947. The two neighbors, who both now possess nuclear weapons, have twice gone to war over Kashmir. Pakistan, meanwhile, condemned India of what it called launching a "campaign of terror and repression" in Kashmir. Scores of peaceful civilians, including children, have been killed and wounded by Indian army last week, Pakistan Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Pakistan also condemns the detention of Kashmiri separatist politicians and demands their immediate release, it said. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
