Kashmir Military Pullout Reported

Pakistani leaders said Sunday that military forces they were supporting had begun pulling back from Indian territory in Kashmir, signaling an end to two months of border fighting that brought the nuclear-armed states to the brink of a full-scale war.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz said his government had decided to order the withdrawal of forces from the disputed Himalayan region to avert a larger conflict. The announcement coincided with a cease-fire to allow 1,000 Pakistani-backed fighters to retreat safely across the border.

The fighting began in early May, when the Pakistani-backed troops seized territory in the mountains along India’s northern border.

Indian National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra verified Sunday that the invaders had begun to pull back. “We have some evidence of a withdrawal,” Mishra said. “The army will have to verify it.”

U.S. officials believe that the invasion was a gamble by Pakistan’s leaders to force the world to intervene in the Kashmir dispute, the source of two wars between the South Asia neighbors.

The withdrawal poses a difficult challenge for Pakistan’s leaders, who have raised expectations of a settlement in the region.

As the forces began retreating from India, Pakistani officials declared that the military operation had succeeded in focusing attention on the half-century-old dispute over Kashmir. India and Pakistan gained their independence from Britain in 1947.

“There is a renewed worldwide realization that a just and final settlement of the Kashmir dispute holds the key to durable peace and stability in South Asia,” Aziz said.

If the withdrawal agreement holds, it will end the worst fighting between the historic rivals in more than 30 years.

The decision by Pakistan to pull back its forces followed weeks of intense diplomatic pressure by the U.S. and a series of military victories by Indian forces.

The leaders of several Pakistani-backed guerrilla groups engaged in the fighting said Sunday that they had been betrayed by the Pakistani government, and they vowed to continue the struggle.

“These claims are a pack of lies,” said Saleem Wani, leader of the Tehrik-e-Jihad group, one of several guerrilla groups with fighters inside India. “We have withdrawn not a single inch.”

The moujahedeen, or holy warriors, had warned that any effort by Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to pull them out of Kashmir could prompt them to turn against the Pakistani government.

The withdrawal came one week after President Clinton secured a commitment from Sharif to pull back the forces from Indian territory. U.S. officials maintain that the majority of the invasion force is composed of Pakistani army troops--a claim that Pakistani leaders have consistently denied.

The Pakistani government has backed an insurgency inside India since 1989, but only in the current operation have its own troops crossed into India and seized territory.

The Pakistani government says it gives only moral and political support to the guerrillas and describes them as Kashmiri freedom fighters.

A White House spokesman said Sunday that the U.S. could not verify that the Pakistani forces were retreating. “Certainly, if it were true, it would be a positive sign,” Barry Toiv said.

India deployed jet fighters and tens of thousands of troops to evict the invaders, and hundreds of combatants and civilians were killed on both sides.