War and Conflict Journal

India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed neighbors who have already fought three major wars and several minor wars against each other, exchanged fire across their mutual border in the Kashmir region.

See the article below from http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/21/asia/AS-Kashmir-Shooting.php

for more information:

Indian troops were fired upon across the heavily fortified frontier in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, injuring a soldier, army officials said Saturday, even as Pakistan blamed Indian army soldiers for the shooting.

Brig. Gopala Krishnan Murali, a senior Indian army officer in India’s Jammu-Kashmir state, would not say whether suspected Islamic rebels or Pakistani soldiers initiated Friday’s firing, but said that a formal complaint had been lodged with Pakistan.

Pakistan’s army, meanwhile, said it was Indian troops who “resorted to unprovoked firing.” An army statement said that a protest had been filed “for cease-fire violation.”

The overwhelmingly Muslim region has been the focus of two of the three wars between India and Pakistan, who both claim Kashmir. Relations between the two have been further strained by last year’s terror attacks in Mumbai that killed 164 people.

India has blamed the attack on Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist militant group widely believed to be created by Pakistani intelligence agencies in the 1980s to fight Indian rule in the divided Kashmir region.

A gunbattle broke out in the Uri region, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of the state capital of Srinagar, after Indian forces were fired upon, Murali said. They returned fire, and the clash lasted about three hours.

Exchanges of gunfire along the Line of Control — as the frontier separating Indian and Pakistani territory in Kashmir is known — were a regular occurrence before the two sides signed a cease-fire in late 2003. There have been several incidents since the agreement, with both sides accusing the other of initiating the shootings.

This is the first such incident this year, Indian army spokesman Lt. Col. J.S. Brar said.

Nearly a dozen Islamic rebel groups have been fighting for Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with Pakistan. More than 68,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict since 1989, and India routinely accuses Pakistan of assisting the insurgents, a charge Islamabad denies.

Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/21/asia/AS-Kashmir-Shooting.php

Comments by Indian officials indicate that the terrorists who
attacked Mumbai this week are believed to be affiliated with the Muslim
Kashmiri group, Lashkar -e- Taiba.  Lashkar is a violent
organization which seeks to separate Muslim-majority Kashmir from India.

Lashkar -e- Taiba has received major aid and training from
Pakistan's intelligence service, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)
in the past, and if Lashkar is indeed implicated in the Mumbai attacks,
India may feel it has to respond with military force against Pakistan.

However, regardless of which Muslim extremist group is behind the
attack, most likely one of their goals is to sabotage the recent
rapprochement between the sub-continent's two most long-standing
enemies.  Pakistan's new civilian leadership has been trying to
increase peace talks with India, but this new policy does not have the
backing of Pakistan's security services, including the powerful
ISI. 

If India retaliates militarily against targets in Pakistan, it could
very well set off another major war between two old foes, who now both
possess nuclear weapons.  This situation could get very worse,
very quickly.

What is known about the Mumbai attacks as of Friday morning, Nov. 28, 2008

• Attackers entered the Mumbai waterfront via boats near the Gateway
of India monument on Wednesday night. They then hijacked cars,
including a police van, and split into at least three groups to carry
out their attacks.

• One group headed toward the Cafe Leopold, a popular spot for
Western tourists, firing their weapons at people on the street. The
terrorists then opened fire and threw grenades at the Chhatrapati
Shivaji Terminus railway station. As police toward the scene of the
attacks, the terrorists then attacked the Cama Hospital, which is a
medical facility for women and infants. Several people were killed at
the hospital, with the standoff ending Thursday morning.

• Two other groups of attackers entered the Oberoi and Taj Mahal
hotels, taking hostages in both luxury hotels. By Friday, the
authorities claimed that the situation at the Oberoi was over.

• Terrorists took hostages at the Chabad House (at 5 Hormusji Street
- Nariman House – Colaba Mumbai, 400-005 India ), a Jewish religious
center in Mumbai where several Jewish families live. Rabbi Gavriel
Holtzberg, the city's envoy for the community, was being held inside
with his wife, a member of the Hasidic Jewish movement said. Gunmen and
hostages still were believed to be in the house Friday morning when
police retook Chabad House, and reported that 5 hostages and 2
terrorists were found dead.

Explosions at the Chabad House, Mumbai, India.

• Fire brigades battled blazes at both hotels. By early Friday, it
appeared what had been a major fire at the Oberoi had been
extinguished.

• By Friday morning, 146 had been killed in the attacks, including
at least six foreigners, authorities said. An Italian and a Briton were
among the confirmed dead. More than 300 people were wounded, including
seven Britons, three Americans and two Australians.

• At least nine gunmen were killed in fighting with police by Friday
morning. Also among the dead were 14 police officers and the chief of
the Mumbai police anti-terror squad. Authorities said they believe the
attacks were carried out by a total of about 26 terrorists.

• The Indian navy had detained a ship off the west coast with the
help of the Indian coast guard. It is believed that the attackers'
boats came from this ship, and that they believe the ship is from
Karachi, Pakistan. The Pakistani government has denied any involvement
in the Mumbai attacks.

• Several Indian news outlets report a group called the Deccan
Mujahedeen e-mailed them to claim responsibility. Intelligence
officials say little is known about the group. U.S. officials and
security analysts say the sophistication of the attacks may indicate a
more-established group is involved.

Once again, the Western Indian city of Mumbai was rocked by
terrorist attacks, as at least 100 died in a coordinated terror
operation apparently aimed, at least partially, at American
and British citizens.

Early reports indicate the coordinated attacks targeted at least ten
locations in Mumbai, which is a major financial center in India.
Reports indicate between 87 to 100 people died, with several hundred
wounded.

Indian news sources indicate a group calling itself the Deccan
Mujahedeen claimed credit for the attacks. Targets included two major
hotels frequented by Westerners, as well as the train station and a
hospital. 

As more details emerge, one major thing to look for is who India
blames for this attack.  Many past terrorist attacks have been
blamed on Kashmiri separatists, who in the past have operated with
significant support from Pakistan.  There are elements in the
Indian government and in the military, for strong responses to any
sort of Islamic terrorism, and the more right-wing Hindu nationalist
elements in India will likely cry out for revenge, either on India's
large Muslim minority, or on Pakistan itself.  Either response
would likely play directly into the hands of whichever militant group
is really behind this attack.