Click here: IHT – Kashmir rebel alliance decides against using land mines
An alliance of Kashmiri rebel groups has decided not to use anti-personnel mines — except possibly for those that can be detonated by remote control — while battling government forces in Indian Kashmir, an international agency said Thursday.
The United Jehad Council alliance was responding to yearlong efforts by the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines, or ICBL, and its local affiliate organization.”We affirm and pledge that we neither have, nor shall use anti-personnel mines or any other victim activated explosive device,” the alliance said in a statement. “We may continue to use command detonated weapons against military targets.”
The Indian government did not immediately issue a reaction to the rebels’ announcement…Thirteen Indian Kashmiri rebel groups make up the United Jehad Council, which has also granted “observer status” to five other militant organizations — such as Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammed — which are based in the Pakistani portion of Kashmir.Most mines in Kashmir are near the 720-kilometer-long (450-mile-long) cease-fire line dividing the territory between India and Pakistan.Official Indian figures cite 15,397 cases of improvised explosive devices and mine explosions occurred between January 1990 and the end of 2006. Officials say the blasts have killed more than 10,000 people and wounded more than 21,000 others.Official Pakistan figures were not immediately available.
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