Pakistani Kashmir orders stockpiling of food as India tensions flare
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan: Pakistan-administered Kashmir called on residents near the de facto border with India to stockpile food on Friday (May 2) as tensions flare between the arch-rivals following a deadly attack last month.
India blames Pakistan for backing a shooting on civilians at the tourist site of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir on Apr 22 that killed 26 men.
Islamabad has denied the charge and the uneasy neighbours have issued a raft of tit-for-tat punitive diplomatic measures.
The two nuclear-armed countries have exchanged gunfire for eight consecutive nights along the militarised Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border that separates the contested Kashmir region.
"Instructions have been issued to stock food supplies for two months in the 13 constituencies along the LoC," the prime minister of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq, told the local assembly on Friday.
The regional government has also created an emergency fund of 1 billion rupees (US$3.5 million) to ensure the supply of "food, medicines and all other basic necessities" to the 13 constituencies, he said.
Government and privately owned machinery were also being deployed to maintain roads in the areas along the LoC, he said.
In Muzaffarabad, the region's capital, dozens of protesters rallied under the banner of a Kashmiri political coalition, chanting "Death to India" and calling for "Jihad", according to an AFP journalist.
"This protest march is a show of solidarity with the Pakistan military," Farooq Rahmani, one of the organisers of the protest, told AFP.
"If there is any misadventure (by India), we are ready to respond firmly," he added.
The attack in Indian Kashmir and subsequent tensions, including expulsions and closed border crossings, have raised fears of a conflagration between India and Pakistan.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday gave the military "complete operational freedom" to respond to the attack.
Pakistan said earlier this week it had "credible evidence" that India is planning an imminent military strike, vowing that any attack would be met with a response.
Fearing a military escalation, authorities in Pakistani Kashmir shut more than 1,000 religious schools for 10 days on Thursday.
India and Pakistan, which both claim Kashmir in full, have fought over the Himalayan territory since the end of British rule in 1947.
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