Pakistan's militant challenge in Kashmir

Pressure is mounting on Pakistan to contain militants itching for a fight with arch-nemesis India amid growing calls for action in its escalating dispute with New Delhi over Kashmir.

Just last week, hundreds rallied in Pakistani Kashmir, calling for armed retaliation over India's decision to revoke the special autonomy granted to its portion of the Muslim-majority region.

Delhi's move earlier this month upended a decades-old paradigm with nuclear-armed rival Pakistan, which also claims the former princely state, and left Islamabad scrambling for international support against the move.

But in the mosques and marketplaces of Muzaffarabad in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, the calls for jihad are gaining momentum even as analysts warn that any militant violence could backfire on Islamabad.

"If India doesn't stop the oppression then, God willing, it will find us there with guns," protester Tariq Ismail told AFP at a march organised by the US-designated terrorist group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.

Residents elsewhere in the city suggested that India's move is set to radicalise a new generation, years after the insurgency that began in the 1980s in Indian-held Kashmir claimed the first of tens of thousands of lives.

Pakistan's most high-profile news anchor, Hamid Mir, hosted three former Pakistani diplomats on his show on Geo News this week, all of whom supported violent resistance in Indian-held Kashmir.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since independence in 1947. They have fought two full-scale wars and countless skirmishes over it.

"If India doesn't stop the oppression then, God willing, it will find us there with guns," protester Tariq Ismail told AFP at a march organised by the US-designated terrorist group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.

Residents elsewhere in the city suggested that India's move is set to radicalise a new generation, years after the insurgency that began in the 1980s in Indian-held Kashmir claimed the first of tens of thousands of lives.

"I have six children. I will send them for jihad... God willing our morale is gaining momentum," said Muhammad Amjad, a 47-year-old former militant.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since independence in 1947. They have fought two full-scale wars and countless skirmishes over it.

Source: AFP