Pak army flies in int'l media to LoC

Pakistani military officials point to an Indian army post high on a forested ridge along the Line of Control dividing Kashmir, insisting any incursions are impossible, after skirmishes ignited dangerous tensions between the nuclear rivals.

The army took the rare step of flying international media to the de facto border to make its case in a battle of competing narratives, after India said its commandos penetrated up to three kilometres into Pakistan on anti-militant raids.

The presence of Indian forces so far across the Line of Control (LoC) would be a stinging blow to Pakistan, particularly after the 2011 US raid that killed Osama bin Laden which took place on its territory without its consent.

The media visit came Saturday as India's army chief Dalbir Singh congratulated commandos involved in what New Delhi has described as "surgical strikes" to take out terrorist launchpads after a deadly attack on an Indian army base last month.

Responding to a query on doubts raised by Pakistan over the operation alleging that India has not released the footage of the operation, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, "Just wait and watch".

Indian media, just after the strikes, reported that the army captured video footages of the operation and will release them when needed.

Meanwhile, Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said India was working to secure the release of a soldier held in Pakistan but it will take "some days".

India says the soldier was captured Thursday after he "inadvertently" crossed the defacto border and his capture is not related to the 'surgical strikes'.

Pakistan has flatly denied the claim, saying two of its soldiers were killed but only in cross-border fire of the kind that commonly violates a 2003 ceasefire on the LoC.

The helicopter tour took journalists to sectors just two kilometres from the dividing line, and near the locations India said it targeted in assaults on four militant camps.

Army spokesman Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa told reporters that no "signature of any surgical strike" could be found which meant that there was no reality in the Indian claims.  He challenged India to be transparent and open about its claim.

It was not possible to verify the general's claims, though villagers who spoke with a second AFP reporter in the area independent of the military-guided trip were also incredulous.

Sardar Javed, a 37-year-old journalist for Kashmiri newspapers and a resident of Tatta Pani sector, which lies just west of India-controlled Poonch sector where one of the strikes was said to have been carried out, said he had seen no evidence of a raid.

"I'm not saying it's not true because that's the army line. It's because I'm from the LoC and I'm a local journalist. News spreads fast around here and people get to know whatever happens," he said.

Mountainous Kashmir is seen as one of the world's most dangerous flashpoints, where Indian and Pakistani soldiers watch one another across valleys divided by barbed wire and land mines.

The bitter neighbours agreed on the de facto border in 1972, but both claim the territory in full. Two of their three wars have been fought over the Himalayan region.

Some Pakistani observers say the vaunted raids are an attempt to shift the focus and allow India to escape scrutiny over its actions in Kashmir where violence since June has killed more than 80 people.