Troop changes after India tension

Pakistan is under intense pressure to act against militants

The Pakistani military has scaled down its operations against Islamist militants in the north-west following tensions with India, officials say.

Some "unannounced changes" have been made in the deployment of troops after Indian jets violated Pakistani air space on 12 December, they said.

India blames Pakistan for last month's Mumbai attacks which killed 173 people.

Pakistani officials deny the charge. But Indo-Pakistani relations have been badly strained since the attacks.

'Redeployed'

Air strikes against militants in the restive Swat and Bajaur regions have been scaled down as some of the airpower had to be redeployed to the country's eastern border, a senior Pakistani military official told Asif Farooqi, the Islamabad-based correspondent of the BBC Urdu service.

The official said the redeployment was ordered after Indian fighter jets violated Pakistani air space earlier this month amid reports of possible "surgical" strikes by India on the headquarters and camps of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant group which India has blamed for Mumbai attacks.

India has blamed Mumbai attacks on Pakistan-based militants

Pakistan has banned the group as well as its parent organisation, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, and arrested some of its leaders.

The ban came a day after the United Nations declared the organisation as a front for "terrorists" soon after the Mumbai attacks.

The Pakistani military has also decided to postpone an impending ground operation against militants in the Khyber tribal region due to the repositioning of troops on the eastern border with India, the official said.

Militants based in Khyber have destroyed dozens of trucks carrying supplies for Nato troops in Afghanistan during the last few weeks.

The official, who requested anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media, said that international powers, including the United States, were aware of these measures.

It has been reported that Pakistan's army chief Gen Kayani told chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen in a meeting earlier this week that "according to Pakistani military reports, the Indians have finalised plans for surgical strikes at some locations inside Pakistan".

Strained relations

Army spokesman, Maj-Gen Athar Abbas, was not available for comments.

But another army official, who has knowledge of deployments in the Khyber region, confirmed that some reshuffling has taken place in the area.

Relations between Pakistan and India have touched a new low since the 26 November attacks on multiple locations in Mumbai.

India has put peace moves on hold.

Delhi has called for decisive steps taken against militants operating from Pakistan.

The government in Islamabad says it has yet to be given solid evidence upon which to act.

On Wednesday, Pakistan's parliament urged India to respond positively to offers from Islamabad to help in the investigation into the attacks.

In a resolution, the National Assembly also condemned what it called "war hype" between the two neighbours.