whom were backed by Pakistan's (ISI), a charge Pakistan denied. This led to a military standoff between India and Pakistan which amassed troops on either side of the International Border (IB) and along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir. In the Western media, coverage of the standoff focused on the possibility of a nuclear war between the two countries and the implications of the potential conflict on the US-led War on Terrorism. Tensions de-escalated following international diplomatic mediation, which resulted in the October 2002 withdrawal of Indian and Pakistani troops from the International Border. Military assistance to Sri Lanka Pakistan and Sri Lanka enjoy a strong relationship and Colombo was used as a refueling stop when India denied Pakistan overflight permissions prior to the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971. Pakistan has sent military advisers, ammunition and other equipment to Sri Lanka during previous offensives against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Many Sri Lankan officers are trained in Pakistan, the cadre which include Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. In 2000, when a LTTE offensive code-named Operation Ceaseless Waves overran Sri Lankan military positions in the north and captured the Elephant Pass Base and entered Jaffna, and it was being feared that the LTTE would run down thousands of Sri Lankan troops stationed in Jaffna, Pakistan supplied multi-barrel rocket launcher systems and other weaponry, which halted the offensive. Pakistan, by supplying high-tech military equipment such as 22 Al-Khalid main battle tanks, 250,000 rounds of mortar ammunition and 150,000 hand grenades, and sending army officers to Sri Lanka, played a key role in the ultimate defeat of Tamil Tigers in May 2009. War in the North-West region After the September 11 attacks in the United States, Pakistan joined the US-led War on Terror and helped the US military by severing ties with the Taliban and immediately deploying more than 72,000 troops along Pakistan's western border to capture or kill Taliban and al-Qaida militants fleeing Afghanistan. Pakistan initially garrisoned its troops in military bases and forts in the tribal areas until several high-profile terrorist attacks inside Pakistan and assassination attempts on Pervez Musharraf in May 2004. Musharraf ordered XII Corps and XI Corps to be stationed in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) region and take forceful action against al-Qaeda members in Pakistan's mountainous Waziristan area (in the FATA), which escalated into armed resistance by local tribesmen. March 2004 marked the beginning of the