India claims Pakistan spy agency involved in Kashmir attack

India's top military commander in the contested Kashmir region said Pakistan's main spy agency, the Inter-Services (ISI) agency, was involved in last week's suicide bomb attack.

Tensions have soured in the region after a Kashmiri militant crashed an explosive-laden van into a paramilitary bus last Thursday, killing at least 40 soldiers in the deadliest attack against Indian government forces in Kashmir's history.

"We were tracking down top leadership since the attack. It was being controlled from across by ISI and Pakistan and JeM commanders," said Lieutenant-General K.J.S. Dhillon in remarks quoted by Reuters.

Denying any involvement, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday’s attack was a matter of grave concern.  

Pakistan appealed to the UN on Tuesday to help deescalate the situation in Kashmir, a day after the country recalled its ambassador to New Delhi. Monday also saw tensions in the Muslim-majority Kashmir erupt into a deadly gun battle that killed seven.  

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In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi alleged that "for domestic political reasons, India has deliberately ratcheted up its hostile rhetoric against Pakistan and created a tense environment".

Some are looking to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has travelled on to India after a two-day visit to Pakistan, to soothe the tensions.

India's Ministry of External Affairs said it had no comment on Pakistan's letter to the U.N.

Kashmir is the site of a decades-long conflict between India and Pakistan in which both nuclear-armed nations claim the region but control only parts.

Guerilla groups have fought against Indian rule in the Indian administrated Kashmir for the past thirty years.

"Many here want either independence from India or the merger of territory with Pakistan," said Aamir Ali Bhat, a Kashmir-based journalist.

Tensions in the region have escalated since July 2018, after militant commander Burhan Wani was killed. Last year alone saw the death of more than 550 people – marking the deadliest year in a decade.