ISLAMABAD: Leading Pakistani newspapers have acknowledged they were hoaxed after publishing reports based on fake WikiLeaks cables containing crude anti-India propaganda.Several leading Pakistani newspapers had on Thursday reproduced an elaborate internet hoax based on purported diplomatic cables from the US embassy in India that spoke of alleged rifts between top Indian Army generals and a " Bosnia-like genocide " in Jammu and Kashmir Much of Pakistan's media toes a pro-military, anti-Indian line. The instigator of the hoax material remains unclear, though it appeared to have originated on a news website known for anti-Indian and anti-Hindu articles.While The Express Tribune published an apology on Friday, The News retracted the story that it had carried on its front page using these fake US diplomatic cables. Other admitted they had been hoaxed.The News had reported on Thursday that cables released by WikiLeaks showed Indian spies were supporting Islamist militants in Pakistan's northwest tribal region of Waziristan and the southwestern province of Baluchistan.Newspapers like the Nation, Nawai Waqt and Jang also carried the report, which quoted purported secret US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.Datelined from Washington, The News related how US diplomats thought of Indian army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor as an "incompetent combat leader" and "rather a geek". It claimed another cable as suggesting that a tug-of-war between Kapoor and current army chief Gen V K Singh had divided the force into "two groups". Another general was described as "self-obsessed, petulant and idiosyncratic" who was "barely tolerated" by subordinates.It liked another to late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic "with regard to butchering Muslims through war crimes" in Kashmir.On Friday, The News wrote that "on further inquiries, we learnt from our sources that the story was dubious and may have been planted".The News said the report originated from some local websites "known for their close connections with certain intelligence agencies".Yet another US cable, the report claimed, had mentioned that slain Mumbai ATS chief Hemant Karkare had briefed the Americans about an alleged nexus between the Indian Army and "Hindu fanatic groups".It claimed Karkare, who died fighting the 26/11 terrorists in Mumbai, had sought security from the Americans for himself and his family. Karkare was one of the several policemen killed during the 2008 Mumbai attacks.