Sources have confirmed that Pakistan has deployed its Special Service Group (SSG), an elite commando force, close to the LoC, a 450-mile long military line which serves as a de-facto border separating disputed Kashmir between the two nuclear-armed nations.
Pakistan's Border Action Team is also active in the region, capable of carrying out surprise attacks across the LoC on Indian posts. The Border Action Team is comprised of units of Pakistani special forces tasked with missions along the Line of Control in the disputed region.
Associates of Jaish-e-Mohammed Chief Masood Azhar are allegedly also present in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and overseeing the training of terrorists ready to cross the LoC. The Indian side has also witnessed a rise in the terrorist movement in Kotli, Rawlakote, Bagh, and Muzaffarabad, located in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, along the LoC.
The developments come just a day after Imran Khan said that the time had come for Pakistan’s Kashmir policy to take a “decisive” turn.
“We will go to every extent… will stand with the Kashmiris till the last breath”, Khan said in his televised address to the nation on Monday.
Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa also discussed the Kashmir issue with General Xu Qiliang, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission (CMC).
Vice Chairman of #China's Central Military Commission, General Xu Qiliang holds one on one meeting with COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa followed by delegation level talks https://t.co/aZGj92gDxd #PakChinaFriendship, #PakArmy pic.twitter.com/m3hgKpwdrT
— Radio Pakistan (@RadioPakistan) August 27, 2019
Last week, General Bajwa also visited the Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) Wah and Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT), where he took stock of defence manufacturing facilities, including upgrades of various tanks.
Tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations have been escalating after the abrogation of the special status to disputed Kashmir by the Indian government on 5 August, leading to several skirmishes along the Line of Control, with both Islamabad and New Delhi blaming each other for the ceasefire violations.
This is the second escalation in 2019, with the previous one taking place at the end of February, when the Pakistan Air Force downed at least one Indian jet following an air raid on Pakistani territory carried out by New Delhi.
