AP: Pakistan Moving Troops Toward India

(AP)  Pakistan began moving thousands of troops away from the Afghan border toward India on Friday amid tensions following the Mumbai attacks, intelligence officials said.

The move represents a sharp escalation in the stand off between the nuclear-armed neighbors and stands to weaken Pakistan's U.S.-backed campaign against al Qaeda and Taliban close to Afghanistan.

Two intelligence officials said the army's 14th Division was being redeployed to Kasur and Sialkot, close to the Indian border. They said some 20,000 troops were on the move. Earlier Friday, a security official said that all troop leave had been canceled.

An Associated Press reporter Friday witnessed a column of about 40 trucks shifting soldiers out of South Waziristan.

The intelligence officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Indian officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

An Associated Press reporter in Dera Ismail Khan, a district that borders the Afghan-frontier province of South Waziristan, said he saw around 40 trucks loaded with soldiers heading away from the Afghan border.

India is blaming Pakistan-based militants for last month's attacks on Mumbai. Islamabad has said it will cooperate in any probe, but says it has seen no evidence backing up India's claims.

Both countries have said they hope to avoid military conflict, but Pakistan has promised to respond aggressively if India uses force, an option the Indian government has not ruled out.

Pakistan has deployed more than 100,000 soldiers in Waziristan and other northwestern regions to fight Islamic militants blamed for surging violence against Western troops in Afghanistan.

A senior security official refused to comment directly on Friday's troop movements, but said, "Necessary defensive measures have been taken, they are in place and Pakistan's armed forces are prepared to tackle any eventuality."

He asked his name not be used, citing the sensitivity of the situation.

Pakistan and India have fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947.

[impeach___w]

Finally! We learned something. Instead of invading with our ground troops, we''ll let the neighboring enemies fight it out. When the powers in the arena are both weakened, it will be much easier to rule the entire region.
It is too bad we already armed Pakistan and al-queda via the ISI as we have done with every single one of our other previous enemies to date.

[hetup-2009]

I hope they kick the devil out of the dot head that keeps calling about my Mastercard debt.

[jowand]

Whew! At least we don''''t have McCain in there prompting Georgia to attack Russia! That could get hairy.

And fortunately we now will have a president with an IQ higher than the Neocon Chimp that the Repugs stuck us with for 8 long years!

Posted by jbrown88881 at 06:05 PM : Dec 26, 2008

India attacks Pakistan from the East and Obama attacks Pakistan from the West as he said he would. A pincer movement (aka) Nut cracker attack.

[whitemale08]

It seems like the British ''Opium Wars'' is alive and well.

Now that the global financial empire is crumbling, it''s time to go back to the medieval period where the empire was maintained by drug trafficking, piracy and slavery.

The British purposely drawn up borders around peoples who had different cultures like an atom has different sub-atomic particles.

This was done so that at a moments notice the British could stage a terrorist attack amongst rival radical groups with drug money and quickly start a war!

The British rule by ''divide and conquer'' and they have managed to blind the American people with ''denial'' and by embarrassing real accounts of conspiracy.

It''s an efficient system, question is how long will the peoples of the world put up with it?

[omega40]

I certainly hope the Multinationals don''t expect the US taxpayer and military to handle security for all those assets they have built and purchased in India. They have flipped off the American worker and avoided paying taxes over here, the people benefiting should deal with those issues.

[gretagreen]

The Mumbai attack was India''s 9/11. The Indian people blame Pakistan. If these two nuclear powers do not calm down, I guess we won''t have to worry about our economy or gay marriage or anything at all.

I love this planet!! Hope no one blows it up any time soon.

[donevis-2009]

donevis: CBS is getting away from ''''hard'''' news.

Posted by downsteamjim at 04:20 PM : Dec 26, 2008

LOL!! Right on Downstream, The sheep and donkeys should run for cover.

[renonv5]

Let them kill each other off.. Posted by you_fools

I agree, it''s time to bring our men and women home and let these fools have at it. We need to protect our own borders, not all these other countries.

[downsteamjim]

donevis: CBS is getting away from ''hard'' news.

[donevis-2009]

Anyone else notice that the comment section on todays piece about the CIA and Viagra was omitted? I guess they didn''t want us running wild on that one. So now it seems our country''s foreign policy has sunk to a new low. I guess we have to accept the fact that we provide drugs to win a place in diplomacy. God Speed USA!