India begins fencing border

JAMMU (occupied), Sept 21: India has begun fencing sections of its international border with
Pakistan to block infiltration of guerillas into Kashmir, a senior army officer said on Thursday.

Lt-Gen A.S. Khanna told reporters that work had already begun on fencing a 187-kilometre stretch
of border from Akhnoor in Jammu district to the border with Punjab state.

" The fencing project will be handled by the Border Security Force under the overall supervision of
the army," Khanna said.

" We will teach a lesson to our adversaries if Pakistan troops try to disrupt the fencing work," he
added.

Cross-border artillery exchanges across the
Indo-Pakistan border in Kashmir intensified in the past
week, as Indian military officials warned of a major push to send guerillas into Kashmir before the
winter sets in.

Khanna stressed that the fencing was taking place along the internationally recognised border, rather
than the Line of Control.

A similar fencing project in 1995 was abandoned after it became the target of intense Pakistani
firing.

fishermen: The Indian foreign ministry on Thursday claimed in New Delhi that 112 fishermen were
being held in the Pakistan jails, and efforts were being made to repatriate them.

"Seventeen Indian fishing boats and 112 fishermen were detained in Pakistan between October and
February, and (they) are in Pakistani custody at present," foreign ministry spokesman Raminder
Singh Jassal said.

"The government of Pakistan has acknowledged their detention and organized consular access in
respect of 84 fishermen. Efforts are afoot to gain consular access to the remaining 28 and
repatriation of all 112," he said.-AFP