India evacuates border villages after strikes on Pakistan

Chak Allah Baksh : India evacuated thousands of people living near the border with Pakistan on Friday, a day after carrying out strikes along the de-facto frontier in disputed Kashmir that have dramatically escalated tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Authorities in northern Punjab state said they were evacuating villages within 10 kilometres (six miles) of the border following Thursday's raids, which provoked furious charges of "naked aggression" from Pakistan.

One official said villagers in parts of Kashmir near the border with Pakistan were also being advised to evacuate their homes in case of shelling, or remain indoors if they were unable to leave.

Indian sources said Thursday that commandos had carried out "surgical strikes" several kilometres (miles) inside Pakistan-controlled Kashmir on what they called "terrorist" targets.

The move followed a deadly assault on one of India's army bases in Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militants, triggering a public outcry and demands for military action.

Indian and Pakistani troops regularly exchange fire across the disputed border known as the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, but sending ground troops over the line is rare.

In Punjab, which neighbours Jammu and Kashmir, thousands of people were being moved away from the heavily secured border as fears of military escalation mounted.

Indian media said camps were being set up in schools and places of worship in the mainly Sikh state, where images showed people piling bedding and cooking equipment onto trailers and cramming into crowded buses as security forces stood guard.

Jaswant Kaur said people in his village of Chak Allah Baksh in Punjab had been told to leave their homes.

"Of course it's not a nice feeling to leave your home, crops, cattle and everything else behind," the 55-year-old told AFP.

"Living here means we are always on the edge. We are really distressed."

Islamabad has dismissed the talk of surgical strikes across the heavily militarised LoC as an "illusion" and said two of its soldiers had been killed in small arms fire.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, facing international calls for restraint, told a cabinet meeting that Pakistan's commitment to peace "must not be construed as weakness".

"In case of any aggression or violation of LoC, Pakistan will take all necessary steps to protect its people and territorial integrity," said a statement from the cabinet office.