Pakistan rejects India's infiltration allegations

KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistan on Wednesday rejected fresh infiltration allegations by India following the killing of five army troops in a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir last week.

Terming the allegations "baseless", Prime Minister Imran Khan accused New Delhi of trying to find a pretext for a false flag operation targeting his country.

"I have been warning the world about India's continuing efforts to find a pretext for a false flag operation targeting Pakistan. Latest baseless allegations by India of infiltration across LoC [Line of Control] are a continuation of this dangerous agenda,", Khan said in a series of tweets.

Last Sunday, four Indian army soldiers, including a high-profile colonel and a police officer, and two suspected militants were killed in a gunfight with militants in Kupwara district of Indian-administered Kashmir, which borders the Pakistan-controlled side of the disputed valley.

New Delhi accuses longtime rival Islamabad of arming and training the militants to fight Indian rule. Pakistan denies the charge.

"The Indigenous Kashmiri resistance against Indian occupation is a direct consequence of India's oppression and brutalization of Kashmiris," Khan said.

"The fascist policies of the RSS-BJP combine are fraught with serious risks. The international community must act before India's reckless moves jeopardize peace and security in South Asia," he added.

Already strained relations between the two nuclear neighbors have plummeted to a new low after India scrapped the longstanding special status of Jammu and Kashmir last August.

Since then, the two border forces exchange fire on an almost daily basis along the LoC, a de facto border that divides the highly militarized zone between the two neighbors.

Jammu and Kashmir is held by India and Pakistan in parts, and claimed by both in full. A small sliver is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought four wars – in 1948, 1965, 1971, and 1999 – three of them over Kashmir.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights groups, thousands of people have been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.