Fear on the frontline as India-Pakistan ties worsen

By Sheikh Mushtaq

GARKOT, India (Reuters) - When India blamed "elements" in Pakistan for the Mumbai attacks last week, fear gripped Kashmir, the region that has been the frontline of their rivalry and strife for over 60 years.

There has been no unusual activity or heightened troop movement in recent days along the Line of Control that divides the disputed region between the nuclear-armed rivals.

But Pakistan has said it may move forces from operations on the Afghan border, where it is fighting al Qaeda and Taliban insurgents, to the Indian border if relations worsen.

"They spit anger on Kashmir when something wrong goes between them," said 80-year-old Jabbar Khan in the village of Garkot, on the heavily-militarized frontier.

"There's a sense of foreboding, as if war might at any minute break out," he said. "We thought the days of terror were over, but these two countries are hopeless."

Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed by both Hindu-dominated India and Islamic Pakistan, and the row has led to two of the three wars between the neighbors since they were born out of British India in 1947.

The two nations, both by then with nuclear weapons capabilities, were on the brink of a fourth war in 2002 after an attack on India's parliament was blamed on Islamist militants based in Pakistan.

A two-decade-long insurgency in Indian-ruled Kashmir -- which New Delhi says is supported by Pakistan, a charge Islamabad denies -- has killed at least 47,000 people.

Although a high turnout in state elections currently being held in Kashmir, including one phase last Sunday, would appear to indicate a sense of normalcy, the Mumbai attacks have cast a long shadow

India has said the attacks, in which 183 people were killed, were carried out by militants from Lashkar-e-Taiba, one of the groups that has been fighting New Delhi's rule in Kashmir.

At the height of the attacks, a militant holed up in a Jewish center in Mumbai called a television channel and said: "Are you aware how many people have been killed in Kashmir? Are you aware how your army has killed Muslims. Are you aware how many of them have been killed in Kashmir this week?"

At the Line of Control, the two armies regularly exchange fire, although that has dropped considerably since a peace process began in 2004. When tensions rise in the two capitals, the clashes become more frequent.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed in the clashes, and with the Line of Control just about 100 meters from Garkot, the village has borne a share of the casualties.

"Fear has returned, I am scared, like any villager would be here," said 45-year-old housewife, Taja January "I have asked my children to pay attention and be vigilant if shelling starts."

Around Garkot, located on the slopes of a pine tree-covered mountain, artillery guns are draped with wire netting. Both sides have scores of military posts in the area.