Sawt Falasteen - Pakistan and India border closure separates families

Pakistan and India are locked in an escalating diplomatic war of words after New Delhi said Islamabad was linked to a militant attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir this week.

Both sides have cancelled visas for Indian and Pakistani nationals respectively and ordered them to leave, before both shut their busiest border crossing in Punjab.

"She's on the Indian side of the border and they're not letting her cross. I'm extremely worried," Ali, a 31-year-old heating technician, told AFP.

Ali said his wife, an Indian national, has a Pakistani visa valid until November and was due to return home to Karachi soon, as he waited for news on the Pakistani side of the crossing.

"The real terrorists should be caught and action taken against them, but it's ordinary people like us who are suffering unjustly," he added.

Indian police have launched a manhunt for the fugitive gunmen, two of whom they say are Pakistani.

The orders for Pakistanis and Indians to return home has distressed many families of mixed nationalities, who often struggle to obtain visas because of poor relations between Hindu-majority Indian and Muslim-majority Pakistan.

Yasmine, 54, who gave up her Indian passport to marry a Pakistani, rushed to the border to return home after visiting family in India for the first time in 15 years.

While she crossed with her Pakistani papers, her niece travelling with her and also married to a Pakistani was left stranded at the border, prevented from crossing back into the country because she only has an Indian passport.

"She's just crying. We absolutely must give her a visa as soon as possible. Her four children are here in Pakistan, waiting for her," Yasmine told AFP.

- 'To part like this' -

The measures have also abruptly ended rare visits to see relatives separated for generations by the border, born out of India's independence from the British in 1947.

"I'm Indian, I love India, but my family is here. And it's not like I hate Pakistan -- I love Pakistan too," said 39-year-old Ghaffar Musafir, who lives in Indian-administered Kashmir.

He had hoped to spend longer rekindling ties with his relatives, travelling to the Pakistani city of Lahore to apply for an extension before diplomatic relations plunged.

"And now I'm leaving my family behind -- you can see for yourself the kind of connection we have, how it feels to part like this."

Pakistan's foreign ministry said it did not know how many Indian nationals were in the country, but said Sikh pilgrims would be allowed to stay.

"We can only hope that things get better as soon as possible," said Musafir, before heading east, behind rows of barriers, soldiers, and flags.

I.Matar--SF-PST