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Pakistani Official: Kashmir Issue Forced Troop Pullback From Afghan Border

Nafisa Hoodbhoy

   WASHINGTON - The renewed tension with India has pushed Pakistan to move
   some of its troops from the border region with Afghanistan to the
   Indian Line of Control (LOC), leaving fewer resources to contain the
   cross-border infiltration of militants along the Afghanistan-Pakistan
   border, a senior Pakistani army official tells VOA.

   "Each time there is an escalation of tension with India, we have to
   pull away troops from our fully porous border with Afghanistan," said
   the army official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was
   not authorized to speak to the media given the sensitive nature of the
   topic.

   "Forces on both sides [of the Pakistan-India border region] are on high
   alert since February this year after the Pulwama attack," the army
   official added.

   The Pakistan army redeployed paramilitary forces to the LOC in February
   after a terror attack in Pulwama (Indian-administered Kashmir) killed
   40 Indian troops.

   India blamed Pakistan for the attack, triggering a high alert on both
   sides of the border. As tensions peaked in August, Pakistan deployed
   additional troops along the border as well.

   Asif Ghafoor, a Pakistan army spokesperson, said during a press
   conference in Islamabad last week that "Kashmir is our jugular vein and
   we will go to any lengths to protect it."

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