Pakistan Holds Off on Any Retreat; India Captures Peak

Indian troops captured a key mountain peak Wednesday from Pakistani-based Islamic fighters in disputed Kashmir, where Pakistan held off on its promise to withdraw forces from Indian territory.

India blew up an ammunition bunker and captured a lookout in craggy Himalayan ridges over Kashmir’s main highway, which is also India’s main military supply route.

Despite Pakistan’s pledge to call back the insurgents, an Indian commander in the Batalik sector said there was no sign of a rebel retreat. Instead, the rebels attacked positions they had lost earlier this week.

In Pakistan, defiant government and militant groups waited for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to return today from London, where British Prime Minister Tony Blair encouraged him to fulfill the agreement Sharif made with President Clinton in Washington.

White House officials said Sharif agreed Sunday that the intruding forces would retreat to the Pakistani side of the Line of Control, which divides Kashmir between the two rivals.

India says Pakistani troops are leading the rebel forces. Pakistan denies the claim, but it has previously acknowledged its influence over the separatists.

The Pakistani military said Tuesday that a request for retreat would have to wait until Sharif returned. An official said Pakistan ultimately has no control over the insurgents.