ISLAMABAD: Pakistan "appears to have cracked down decisively on Kashmir militants by restricting their movement and cutting off their money supply", the latest issue of Herald newsmagazine has reported.

The report says that despite this, groups of militants "lurk" near the Line of Control to cross into Jammu & Kashmir, "but their success rate is very low."

It attributes this to the border fencing, tightened Indian security at porous points, improved Indian intelligence gathering, as well as measures by Pakistan, such as the choking of financial assistance to the groups.

The report includes an interview with Syed Salahuddin saying he is unhappy with Pakistan for the change in its Kashmir policy, and asking President Pervez Musharraf to "reconsider [his] current policy".

"Everybody, including myself, is annoyed that Pakistan changed its stance... The objectives of the Kashmir cause cannot be achieved without an armed struggle. Apart from political and diplomatic support, substantive support on the part of the State is essential," says Salahuddin.

Some months ago, the magazine had reported the rise of militant groups in PoK through relief work following the 2005 earthquake. The widely quoted report was an embarrassment for the Pakistan government, which fell back on the defence that "it shows we have a free press in this country."

The latest report gives the government an opportunity to recover some ground. It says that the squeeze on Kashmir militants has badly affected small organisations such as the Tehreek-e-Mujahideen, al-Omar Mujahideen, and a host of others.

Among the bigger organisations, the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen is the worst sufferer, while others such as the LeT and the Jaish-e-Mohammed were able to reinvent themselves as "relief organisations" under other names.

According to the report, more than a 1,000 trained militants from the Indian side of the LoC are cooling their heels in three Hizb camps in the Frontier province. Thousands more are confined to camps run by Pakistani outfits such as LeT, Jaish and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.

The report says this is a result of Islamabad's policy of "demobilising militants" to create conditions for a negotiated settlement on Kashmir.

According to the report, Pakistan had "moved on three fronts" to implement this policy: increased patrolling by the security forces in parts of the LoC vulnerable to infiltration; asking villagers to keep an eye out for militants; and stopping finances.

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