Musharraf vows to teach India lesson on Kashmir

ISLAMABAD, Jan 23: Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf has vowed to teach India a "lesson" if its troops cross the disputed border in Kashmir, a report said today, says AFP.

"We will teach them a lesson," he told The Nation newspaper.

The warning followed a serious clash between the two armies in the Chamb sector on the Line of Control (LoC) that divides Kashmir between Pakistan and India.

Pakistan said its troops repelled an Indian attack Saturday on its military post in Chamb, inflicting casualties. It said two Pakistani soldiers were killed and another five were missing.

New Delhi said 17 Pakistanis and two Indian soldiers died in the clash, the worst since the rival armies fought fierce battles in Kashmir last year.

"Indians are not refraining from crossing the LoC out of any love for Pakistan. They would have done it long before if they could. We will teach them a lesson on the LoC or anywhere else," Musharraf said.

Pakistan and India hold parts of the divided Himalayan state of Kashmir, which is claimed by both. They have fought two wars over the territory since their independence in 1947.

Meanwhile, the Kashmir border between India and Pakistan was quiet today, a day after New Delhi said 17 Pakistani and two Indian soldiers died in one of the worst flare-ups since last year, officials said.

A senior army officer told AFP that "small arms firing" was, however, continuing on a minor scale at three places on the winding and disputed border in the Himalayan state.

"Otherwise everything is quiet," said the officer, who requested anonymity. "But we feel things can flare up."

Indian officials said Saturday that fierce fighting erupted in the border region of Chamb late Friday, shortly after Pakistan thrashed India in a cricket tournament in Australia.

The two armies traded barrages of machine gunfire and mortars, leaving a junior Indian officer and a soldier and 17 Pakistani soldiers dead, according to Indian Brigadier Jasbir Singh.

Four Indian soldiers were also injured in the clash.

Pakistan confirmed the firefight but said India had launched the attack and that only two of its soldiers were killed.

Pakistani officials added that five Pakistani soldiers were missing and accused the Indian army of illegally crossing the Line of Control that divides Kashmir between the two countries.

Indian military officials displayed to journalists in the border area of Palanwala the bodies of five Pakistani soldiers, kept on large blocks of ice under a tent.

The fighting was among the worst since the 10-week clash that claimed 1,000 lives on both sides of Kashmir between May and July last year.

Previous cricket matches between India and Pakistan have also sparked brief clashes on the perenially tense Kashmir frontier.