Musharraf's Kargil claim in line of fire

'Pakistan Army's involvement wider than accepted by the General'.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's admission that Pakistani Army regulars were involved in the Kargil war has validated India's stand but has left Indian Army's top brass angry.

They have objected to Musharraf's claim that it took only five battalions of the Pakistani Army to "sort out" four divisions of the Indian Army.

Musharraf has made these comments in his memoirs, In the Line of Fire.

Army officials here said the seizures during the conflict in Kargil pointed to a much larger engagement by the Pakistani Army. Official documents show that at least 725 Pakistani military personnel were killed in the conflict, they said.

"Recoveries of weaponry and letters and documents prove that at least seven battalions of the Pakistani Army were actively engaged," said a source in the Army.

"We have firm proof that battalions number 3,4,5,6,8,12 of the Northern Light Infantry were involved," he added.

Sources said the Indians had seized four anti-aircraft guns, 46 heavy machine guns, 198 rifles, 19 rocket launchers, 12 light mortars, three Howitzers, one Stinger missile launcher, 1,200 artillery rocket bombs, 1,406 anti-personnel mines and at least 35 tonne ammunition during the conflict.

The Army, in fact, works on the conventional understanding of three defenders per attacker, sources said.

When it comes to warfare in a mountainous terrain, the ratio is changed to six defenders per attacker. "In Kargil war, the Indian Army did not go against this principle," said the source. Nearly 540 Indian Army personnel were killed in the war.