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Khanabal, Kashmir -- The Indian military rarely takes prisoners when it encounters Islamist militants here in Kashmir. Most are killed in suicidal gunbattles or quietly consigned after capture to an Indian prison.
But this week the commander of the Indian army in southern Kashmir allowed two fighters from the militant group Lashkar-e-Tayibba to be taken alive. And Thursday, in an unprecedented move, he permitted the two militants to be interviewed.
The Indian commander, Maj. Gen. R.S. Jamwal, said he was intent on showing that Pakistani-backed jihadis, or holy warriors, continue to infiltrate and terrorize the Indian portion of Kashmir.
He also wanted to counter the Pakistani contention that the Kashmir insurgency is being conducted by local freedom fighters. One of his prisoners, a 16-year-old self-described jihadi, was born in Pakistan and attended an Islamic school in the Pakistani
part of Kashmir.
India has accused Pakistan of training and funding the Islamist fanatics who stage strikes against Indian security forces deployed in Kashmir. Pakistan says the attacks are the work of heroic and duty-bound freedom fighters who want to liberate their land
from Indian occupation.
``This is terrorism, not freedom fighting, and we're not going to tolerate it any more,'' Jamwal said in his compound in Khanabal, 35 miles south of the capital, Srinagar. ``The world won't tolerate it any more, either.''
The general also dismissed the recent crackdown against extremists by the Pakistani president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Under growing international pressure to extend the curbs on extremists, Musharraf is expected to deliver a strong anti-terrorism speech
to his nation in the coming days.
``Musharraf is cornered now,'' said Jamwal, who directs all Indian army forces in southern Kashmir. ``He will say he wants to counter terrorism with all his might, with this and that, but he'll continue to infiltrate. He'll give a dovish, apologetic speech.
But no matter what he says, here on the ground, things aren't changing. He's still fighting his proxy war.''
Rival claims
India and Pakistan both lay claim to Kashmir, a predominantly Muslim territory of 9.9 million people. The nuclear-armed rivals have fought two wars and countless battles, and a Islamist guerrilla insurgency has raged in Kashmir for the past dozen years.
In recent weeks there has been a massive military buildup by both countries along the de facto border known as the ``line of control.''
One of the captured Lashkar fighters, Murtaza Aqib, said in an interview Thursday that he is the eldest of seven children of a tailor from southern Pakistan. While attending a madrasah, an Islamic religious school outside Lahore, Aqib joined Lashkar when
the group's recruiters told him Kashmiri Muslim girls were being raped by Indian soldiers.
He spent three weeks in a Pakistani boot camp with 1,200 other trainees, then had an additional 45 days of specialized training with weapons and explosives. The camp, he said, was near Muzaffarabad, in the Pakistani portion of Kashmir.
When Aqib got the honored assignment to sneak into Indian Kashmir, he was given an automatic rifle with three clips, a pistol and a hand grenade. He said he was temporarily housed at a Pakistani army garrison before being taken to the border by a major and
another officer in the ISI, the Pakistani intelligence agency.
Wearing a ragged track suit, a dirty twill cloak and torn loafers, Aqib said he is worried that he has brought shame upon his parents, who were not happy with his venture into radicalism.
``My parents wanted me to be a teacher,'' said Aqib, 16, sporting the thin beginnings of a teenage mustache. ``I wanted to get married and have children, but I've never had a girlfriend before.''
The capture
He was captured Wednesday when 35 Indian troopers, acting on a tip, surrounded a house where he and his commander were staying. They surrendered -- along with two Chinese-made AK-47s, three grenades and 150 rounds of ammunition -- after soldiers tossed tear
gas and stun grenades inside the house.
Aqib said he had fired his weapon only one time -- at a leopard he came across while hiding in a jungle. He spoke softly, and fearfully, but one Indian officer involved in Wednesday's raid said Aqib was angry and defiant when captured.
``Yes, I surrendered, but they had to catch me,'' Aqib said Thursday as he was unshackled and unhooded for an interview. ``Even the Prophet Muhammad was behind bars at one point. I still call myself a jihadi.''
Had he been tortured by the Indians? No, he said, but he expects to be.
The Lashkar commander captured with him was Mohammad Shafi Bhat, 24, a Kashmiri native. He said he was abducted two years ago by Lashkar agents and then forced -- under threat of execution -- to train in Pakistan.
In October, before crossing into Indian Kashmir, Shafi said he got 10,000 Indian rupees (about $200) from a Lashkar paymaster.
Thursday, Shafi disavowed any allegiance to Pakistan, holy war, Lashkar or Al-Qaida. He called Osama bin Laden ``a terrorist,'' and said he had not seen a tape of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. He also said he had been made
a Lashkar commander just two weeks ago.
``He's trying to save his skin,'' said Jamwal, who listened to the interview.
The general said that his anti-terrorism unit known as Vector Force had ``seven kills'' on Thursday and that morale was high among his troops.
``We kill six or eight every day now. Usually the number of kills goes down in the winter months because there's less activity. But I predict this winter they will go up -- double the number.
``I am quite confident we will wipe them out, and this militancy will come to an end. By this summer, things will be great again in Kashmir.''
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