NEW DELHI: The Pakistan President, Mr, Faroog Leghari, said in Islamabad that his country would respond to a rocket attack which killed 20 villagers in the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) on January 26, but ruled out a war with India, report agencies, Pakistan is blaming India for the incident despite a strong denial.

In a unanimous resolution, the Pakistani Senate had described the rocket attacks as “yet another example of the aggression and criminal attitude of the Indians.”

The developments came even as Pakistani troops resorted to heavy firing at Indian positions in the Akhnoor sector again, injuring seven civilians, according to official sources.

The Firing, which began at 9:30 pm, continued till early morning, The Indian troops, returned the fire; there were no casualties on the Indian side.

‘The sources said that Pakistani troops fired on seven border outposts, including Maljoda, Nikowal and Rajpura in the sector, using medium machine guns. Nearly 40,000 rounds were fired.

But a Pakistani Army spokesman in Islamabad sought to play down the intensity of the skirmishes. “There was no special exchange of fire,” he said, describing the incident along the Line of Control as “usual.” Pakistan had protested when India test fired its extended range surface to surface Prithvi missile.

“It is a very dangerous development in South Asia,” foreign secretary Nizamuddin Shaikh said, in a statement on Pakistan television.

He said the missile was designed to strike Pakistan and could hit every major city in the country. He added that the test represented a “new security situation.”

He said his country would match India’s missile capability if New Delhi continued to develop an advanced version of the missile.

“Pakistan will give a befitting response,” President i told reporters when asked to comment on the rocket attack on the PoK, He did not elaborate.

“I think there is no threat of war between Pakistan and India,” he, however, added, but warned that it would heighten tension in the region. “It is a wrong and dangerous escalation,” he said. Mr. Leghari said it reflected: what he called the frustration of die Indian Government in failing to suppress an “indigenous freedom movement in Kashmir.

According to sources, Pakistani troops have been firing on Indian positions continuously since January 19 this year, using mortar and machine guns.

One of the reasons, they claim, is 10 provide cover to militants for crossing over to the Indian side for thwarting the electoral process.

Nearly 5,000 Pakistani and Kashmiri militants are¢ waiting in the Akhnoor, R.S. Pura, Poonch and Rajouri sectors to cross over to the Indian side.

There have been about 1,000 firing: incidents by Pakistani troops since January last year but the current spell for the past one week has been the longest and the “most serious” claim the sources. Newspaper editorials in Pakistan warned against the escalating tension.

Article extracted from this publication >>  January 31, 1996