ISLAMABAD (AP) – In New Delhi, they say that highly trained Indian soldiers slipped across the de facto border and into Pakistani-controlled Kashmir in a daring nighttime raid, killing anti-India militants preparing to launch attacks.
In Islamabad, they say only one Indian soldier made it across the border – and he was captured – with Pakistani forces easily driving back the other Indians, who retreated as soon as they encountered resistance.
India says none of its soldiers were killed. Pakistan says eight Indian soldiers died.
Who is telling the truth? No outsider knows for sure. The region where the fighting occurred is deep in the Himalayas, along the Line of Control that has long split Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Access to the area is restricted on both sides. Officials in both countries are leaking select details to reporters, while announcing almost nothing openly.
But one thing is clear: The dueling tales of courageous forces serve politics on both sides of the border, with powerful forces in each country able to proclaim their courage in the face of aggression.