The Hindu : Front Page : Pakistan denies reports of Indian soldiers crossing LoC

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 14, 2005

Front Page

Front Page

Pakistan denies reports of Indian soldiers crossing LoC

B. Muralidhar Reddy

"Our fighting bunkers are intact because their construction is very robust"

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan on Thursday denied reports that Indian soldiers crossed the Line of Control to help to repair one of its army bunkers in the wake of the October 8 earthquake.

The media reports "are fabricated, baseless and untrue," Director-General of Inter-Services Public Relations Shaukat Sultan said. There is "no question" of such a possibility. "Our fighting bunkers are completely intact because their construction is very robust."

Maj. Gen. Sultan also refuted media reports expressing concern over the safety of Pakistan's nuclear installations. They were robust and shockproof. An earthquake or even a direct bomb attack cannot cause them any harm. "Such reports are being spread by those who don't have any knowledge about such matters."

Commenting on the issue, a diplomat said: "I fail to understand why the Indian side should publicise it even if its soldiers responded to distress calls from the Pakistani side. Obviously, the Pakistanis cannot be expected to confirm such reports even if they were true, particularly when the matter involves their troops. This kind of scoring a point in such a situation is meaningless."

Meanwhile, the official death toll in the earthquake has risen to more than 25,000. The number of injured was put at 63,000.

Islamabad, Peshawar, Abbotabad, Lahore, Malikwal, Gujaranwala, Swat and Mansehra were jolted by fresh aftershocks, measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale, in the early hours of Thursday. The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicentre was in the northern areas, about 135 km from Islamabad.

The Pakistan Met office said the jolts were "normal" and there was no cause for concern.

Relief efforts inadequate

As aid workers from various parts of the world moved to the interior areas, the inadequacy of the relief efforts was exposed.

"The scale of destruction was dumbfounding," said UNHCR Assistant Representative in Pakistan Indrika Ratwatte. "There were 100-200 people waiting in the landing area in the village of Uri. This was the first time they'd seen any assistance. So, naturally they ran for food. And once that was gone, they rushed to move the injured onto the helicopter."

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

News Update

Stories in this Section