India Says Militants Attempted an Incursion

JAMMU, India —  India’s army said Wednesday that Pakistani fighters from an Islamic militant group had launched a major attempt to cross into the Indian-held portion of Kashmir.

The claim was likely to raise tensions between India and Pakistan, which reinforced troops along their border after militants attacked the Indian Parliament in December. Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said Wednesday that there are no plans to pull forces back.

Lt. Col. H.S. Oberoi, an Indian army spokesman, said it was the “first major attempt by Pakistan to send infiltrators into the Indian side” since Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced a crackdown on militant groups Jan. 12.

There was no immediate reaction from Pakistan. The government denies giving military or logistical support to Pakistan-based Islamic militants fighting Indian rule in Kashmir.

Indian soldiers battled a group of gunmen that was discovered trying to cross into Indian territory Tuesday night about 300 miles southwest of Srinagar, the summer capital of India’s Jammu and Kashmir state, Oberoi said.

Five bodies were recovered Wednesday along with five rifles, a pistol, four antitank mines, explosives and documents indicating that the intruders belonged to a Pakistan-based militant group, Hezb-i-Islami, Oberoi said.

He said Indian troops were searching for other members of the group who they believe crossed into India.

Meanwhile, a Pakistani official was killed and three people were wounded Wednesday after Indian forces opened fire across the Kashmir border, Pakistani officials said.

They said an agriculture official from the Muzaffarabad district in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir was killed when the jeep in which he was traveling was fired on by Indian forces. Another person in the vehicle was wounded, police and district officials said.

A 16-year-old girl and a 26-year-old man were wounded by Indian fire into two border villages in Pakistan’s Sialkot district, Pakistani military sources said.