Pakistan to retaliate

8220;The situation is aggravated by India8217;s using of aircraft and helicopter gun-ships8230;we reserve the right to respond8230;but we will determine the time and place,8221; said military spokesman Brigadier Rashid Qureshi.

Aziz dismissed the Indian allegation that Pakistan was trying to send infiltrators across the border. 8220;The area is an unmanned area8230;no one knows where they come from and who they area,8221; he said.

Pakistan says its support for secessionists in Kashmir is restricted to political and moral support.

Aziz claimed Pakistan was exercising restraint despite two weeks of cross-border attacks from Indian soldiersamassed on the border. Asked whether the fighting could be contained, Aziz said 8220;we are trying our best8221;.

According to newspaper reports today, the Pakistan air force and army have been put on 8220;high alert8221; along the Kashmir border. Describing it as a 8220;very grave escalation8221;, a army spokesman said Indian jet fighters had Pakistani territory in the Kashmir region three times.

8220;We think it is a very grave escalation and the Pakistan armed forces reserve the right to respond,8221; said spokesman Brigadier Rashid Qureshi, speaking to journalists in Islamabad. 8220;We are prepared for all eventualities8230;we are prepared for all sorts of escalation,8221; he said.

Qureshi said the Pakistani army had rejected Indian claims that the bombing raids were an attempt to target separatist rebels on its side of the Kashmir border. He said the Pakistan army suspects that India wants to occupy Pakistani territory in the area.

8220;In all likelihood they want to secure and capture areas on our side of the Line of Control fromwhere they think we dominate that area8230;that seems to be their aim,8221; he said.

According to him, the Indian military has been moving jet fighters, helicopter gun-ships and an estimated 12,000 soldiers into that area in the past two weeks. Qureshi said that kind of a military build-up far exceeded what was needed to crush insurgents. 8220;There is something definitely more sinister than just combating freedom fighters,8221; he said.

Qureshi said Indian jet fighters bombed Pakistani territory twice in the morning on Wednesday and again shortly after 2 pm local time on Wednesday. 8220;This is a pattern8230;I don8217;t think this is a mistake anymore so it will be considered as serious as that,8221; he said. However, he didn8217;t say what Pakistan8217;s response would be.