INDIA: KASHMIR SITUATION INTENSIFIES - UPDATE

(31 May 1999) Hindi/Nat

Militants say they have taken a position overlooking a key supply route in Kargil on the Indian side of the Line of Control, which divides Kashmir into Indian and Pakistani-controlled areas.

In anther show of defiance on Monday, a militant group rejected India-Pakistan peace talks.

The Islamist Markaz-ud-Daawa wal-Irshad, one of four groups involved in battles in northern Kashmir, demanded Indian forces withdraw from the disputed region before peace talks could begin.

Indian military troops prepared to fire on rebels as a blistering air-and-ground campaign continued into its sixth day along the disputed Kashmir border.

On Monday, militants claimed to have taken positions in Kargil, a key supply route on the Indian side of the border.

India has vowed to continue its military operations in the conflict zone until it regains its lost territory.

But the offensive has forced many from their houses.

They say their homes are no longer safe.

SOUNDBITE: (Hindi)
Q: Where are you going?
I'm going to ...
Q: Why?
Because there's trouble over there (where I come from) and I can't stay in my house anymore."
SUPER CAPTION: Voxpop

Uneasy relations between Pakistan and India plummeted last week when Indian jet fighters launched an air campaign against Muslim secessionists in the Kargil mountains on their side of the disputed border.

Some analysts say the border situation has deteriorated to a point not seen since 1971, the last time India and Pakistan fought a war.

Both countries lay claim to a united Kashmir, which was divided between the two neighbours after British rule of the Asian Subcontinent ended in 1947.

Pakistan controls a third of Kashmir, India the remainder.

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