Gains Against Rebels in Kashmir Reported

India said it had pushed back guerrillas holed up in northern Kashmir toward the demarcation line with Pakistan, and it vowed to press on with its offensive against the insurgents. Pakistan rejected as ridiculous India’s claim that an Indian pilot was killed in cold blood last week after ejecting from his jet fighter and landing on the Pakistani side of the line. India claimed that hundreds of heavily armed infiltrators had taken up positions on its territory in the Himalayan region. Local news agencies quoted Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee as saying that he had refused an offer by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to send a special envoy to India and Pakistan to defuse tensions over Kashmir, claimed by both nations.