Pakistan deploys fresh troops along border, LoC: Report

ISLAMABAD: Amidst rising tensions with India, Pakistan has moved fresh army troops to the Line of Control in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and the international border with India to protect "vital points" along the frontier, a media report said here on Friday.

The Defence Department declined to give details of fresh troop movements but did not deny reports that Pakistan was moving a number of new brigades to the frontier in the Lahore sector, the report said quoting sources.

The forces were deployed along the LoC and the international border yesterday to protect vital points, the sources said.

The Pakistan Army's 10th Brigade has been moved to forward areas in Lahore and army's 3rd Armoured Brigade, normally held in reserve, has been moved to Jhelum, the defence sources said claiming that there was a heavy concentration of Indian troops on the border.

The Pakistan Army's 10th and 11th Divisions have also been put on high alert and these forces have been stationed in areas facing Rajouri and Poonch sectors of Kashmir.

There have also been reports in the Pakistani media that the Pakistan Air Force is in a state of high alert and was conducting aerial surveillance of the Chashma power plant and other sensitive sites amidst fears of a possible surgical strike by India in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks.

In recent public comments, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh have both ruled out a war between the two countries. India has been asking Pakistan to crack down on elements in the country which were linked to the Mumbai attacks that killed over 180 people.

Pakistan has said it is waiting for India to provide evidence to take forward its probe into the Mumbai incident.