Pakistan has 14,000 'reserve militants' to fight India

Pakistan has reserved 12,000-14,000 fully-trained Kashmiri militants who would be used against India in case of a war, The New York Times has quoted a former militant commander as saying.

The paper quoted the unidentified commander saying that Pakistan's military is still training militants to carry out proxy wars in Kashmir and Afghanistan.

The commander added that militant groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and Hizbul Mujahideen are run by religious leaders, with the Pakistani military providing training, strategic planning and protection.

'Two bodies are running these: mullahs and retired generals,' he said. He also named a number of former military officials involved in the programme, including ex-chiefs of the intelligence service and other former generals, who he claimed played big roles.

He said he personally trained up to 4,000 militants. He fought and trained other militants in Kashmir, Bosnia, Chechnya and Afghanistan, the report said.

The enterprise was supported by the Pakistani military and executed by Pakistani militant groups, he said.

The report said the ISI paid the former militant commander, and that fighters were paid about $50 a month and commanders about $500.