- ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A
Kashmiri militant group battling Indian rule in the Himalayan region vowed
on Friday to step up guerrilla attacks on Indian forces, despite
Islamabad's
recent crackdown on extremist groups.
-
- "The armed struggle will continue until the
achievement
of the objectives, and targeted attacks will be intensified," the
Hizbul Mujahideen group said.
-
- "Ours is a legitimate struggle based on
international
rules and the international community recognizes our demand for
self-determination,"
the group said in a statement after its top leadership met in Muzaffarabad,
capital of Pakistan-ruled Kashmir.
-
- The meeting was chaired by the group's supreme commander
Sayed Salahuddin, who is on a list of 20 men India wants Pakistan to hand
over on suspicion of involvement in crimes carried out in India, including
a December 13 attack on India's parliament.
-
- New Delhi blames the attack on two Pakistan-based
militant
groups.
-
- Under tremendous international pressure, Pakistan's
military
ruler General Pervez Musharraf outlawed five hard-line Islamic groups last
month, including the two accused of plotting the Indian parliament
attack.
-
- Relations between the two nuclear-armed South Asian
rivals
have deteriorated sharply since December 13 with both sides massing about
a million troops along their tense border in their biggest military
standoff
since 1971.
-
- Hizbul Mujahideen's leaders said the banning of "a
few groups" would not weaken the anti-India insurgency in
Kashmir.
-
- Indian forces have been battling about a dozen rebel
groups in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Some of the groups are seeking
independence,
while others, including Hizbul Mujahideen, hope to see India's only Muslim
majority state join Islamic Pakistan.
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