August 27, 2002	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Saani 17,1423

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ISLAMABAD, Aug 26: The government told US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage during his visit here on Saturday that the Indian air strikes on a Pakistani military post along the Line of Control last week were verifiable, informed sources said.

ISPR Director-General Maj-Gen Rashid Qureshi told Dawn on Monday: “We have evidence, and we are trying to get over it.” He also indicated that Pakistan would soon unveil ‘convincing evidence’, but avoided giving specifics about it.

Sources attending talks with Mr Armitage said he had inquired about the attack during parleys with the officials here. He was on his way to New Delhi at the time of air strike.

“He did not seem too clear or sure about it; he wanted to know more from us, so he was briefed by Foreign Affairs Minister Inamul Haq,” said an official who attended the meeting.

Another source privy to the talks said it transpired during the discussions with Mr Armitage that there was a lot of confusion in the Indian official circles on the question of attack that Pakistan had claimed to have had repulsed.

The sources said Mr Armitage taking serious note of the incident had described the unprovoked air attack as ‘irresponsible escalation’.

While the Indians continued to officially deny their escalatory move, they told Mr Armitage at the ministerial-level that something had happened at the LoC, Dawn learnt through well-placed diplomatic sources in Islamabad.

Gen Rashid Qureshi announced at a Press Conference on Friday that India had suffered heavy casualties after it had launched an unprovoked air attack on a Pakistani post in Gultari. India dismissed the claim by Pakistan as an ‘outright lie’.

Interestingly, Star News and another Indian TV channel initially had quoted some defence sources as privately conceding that something had happened in which air power had been used. But later they aired the Indian spokesman version.