India conducted surgical strikes last night across LoC

[GANESH65]

Share:

Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp Email Share Link

India conducted surgical strikes last night across LoC to safeguard our nation: Defence Ministry

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a Cabinet Committee on Security meeting earlier today.

By: Express Web Desk | New Delhi | Updated: September 29, 2016 1:01 pm

DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh addressing the media“India conducted surgical strikes last night across the LoC to safeguard our nation, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday. Significant casualties have been caused to terrorists and those trying to shield them. We don’t have a plan to further conduct such strikes. India has spoken to Pakistan,” DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh said.
“There were launch pads at the LoC where terrorists were present waiting to infiltrate the nation and attack areas in Kashmir and metros across the country,” the DGMO said. No Indian casualties occurred during the surgical strikes that were carried out last night by the Indian Army.
“We have recovered items including GPS which have Pakistani markings. Captured terrorists hailing from PoK or Pakistan have confessed to their training in Pakistan or in Pakistan controlled region,” Singh said.
“I spoke to the Pak DGMO, shared our concerns and told him that we conducted surgical strikes last night: DGMO Singh said.
PM Narendra Modi had informed President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President and former Prime Minister Mahmohan Singh on the surgical strikes. Jammu and Kashmir Governor and CM Mehbooba Mufti have also been informed about the surgical strike.
The press conference was jointly conducted by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Defence.

Meanwhile, Pakistan, in a statement issued has said: At least two Army men were killed as Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged fire over the Line of Control in “Azad Jammu and Kashmir”. The exchange of fire began at 2:30am, ISPR said, and continued till 8:00am. “Pakistani troops befittingly responded to Indian unprovoked firing on the LoC in Bhimber, Hotspring Kel and Lipa sectors,” the statement said.
India had repeatedly warned Pakistan not to allow its territory to be used for terrorist activities. Besides, India had called for an international diplomatic boycott of Pakistan as it shielded terrorists on its land. At the United Nations General Assembly, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said Pakistan was a terror state and it need to rein in terror elements.
Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security to discuss the ceasefire violations along the Line of Control. Also present at the meeting were Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, NSA Ajit Doval, and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar.
Three ceasefire violations by Pakistan were reported along the LoC in the last 24 hours.
Prime Minister Modi was also scheduled to hold a high-level meeting on Thursday to review the Most Favoured Nation status granted to Pakistan, but that meeting has now been rescheduled for next week.

 

[GANESH65]

WASHINGTON: [h=2]HIGHLIGHTS[/h]

1. India conducted surgical strikes on terror launch pads across LoC
2. Attack like Uri "obviously escalates tensions," US said hours later
3. "Fully expect Pak will take effective action to combat terror," it said

Hours after India announced surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control on Wednesday night, the US doubled down its support for India and reasserted that Pakistan should fight against terrorism, but what was left unsaid by the White House was also significant.

While there is no credible evidence of whether the US had a role or was informed about the surgical strikes before it was launched, the White House did not confirm or deny claims.

State Department Spokesperson John Kirby, however, said that an attack like that in Kashmir's Uri "obviously" escalates tensions.


"Obviously, an (terrorist) attack like that (in Uri) escalates tensions. What I don't want to do is try to get into, you know, some sort of broad characterisation one way or the other but obviously an attack like this is horrific and...", Mr Kirby said when questioned by a reporter on whether India's operation - in which soldiers went around 2 km deep into territory occupied by Pakistan and targeted seven terror launch pads - was an act of escalation.


Mr Kirby called for de-escalation of tension between the two countries.

"We've seen those reports (of the surgical strikes). We're following the situation closely as I think you can understand. We also understand that the Indian and Pakistani militaries have been in communication...Our message to both sides is the same, to encourage them to increase communication to deal with this threat and avoid steps that escalates the tension," he said.

There is a strong view in Washington that the comment is a message to Islamabad to not retaliate. Pakistan is not getting much sympathy in Washington, with US lawmakers strongly condemning its support of terrorism and a bill proposing that the country be labelled a terror state. For the first time the White house and the State Department are showing, even if symbolically, that they are willing to take a side.

After the surgical strikes were announced, the US reiterated that its National Security Council Chief Susan Rice had spoken on the phone with her Indian counterpart Ajit Doval and assured him that the US is "concerned about the dangers of cross border terrorism and fully expects that Pakistan will take effective action to combat and delegitimize UN designated terrorist individuals and entities."

 

[kahanam]

Jai Hind! Jai Jawan!

 

[GANESH65]

[h=1]Surgical strikes in PoK: How Indian para commandos killed 50 terrorists, hit 7 camps[/h][h=2]Indian army carried out surgical strikes across the Line of Control dismantling at least seven camps in PoK. A team of army commandos carried out the operation after getting a go ahead from the government.After years of terror strikes supported by Pakistan, the Indian Army has hit back with a textbook surgical strike that caused heavy casualties including 2 Pakistani soldiers, and destroyed seven terror camps. Latest imagery suggests that the number of casualties of terrorists across the LoC is around 50.[/h]Ghatak platoon of 6 Bihar and 10 Dogra units were made part of the surgical operations as they were familiar with the terrain. It also gave them a sense of responsibility in avenging the deaths of their fellow jawans. Both units suffered losses in the Uri terror attack on September, 18.
Few hours after the surgical strikes in PoK, Pakistan government has released the photographs of 2 dead soldiers. They have been identified as Havildar Jumma Khan and Naik Imtiaz.
Meanwhile, the Indian Army has issued a statement, saying one soldier from 37 RR with weapons inadvertently crossed over to the other side of the LoC. It has denied reports of any Indian casualties.

India Today has got exclusive details of the inside story behind the surgical strikes.
Opinion: Indian Army's surgical strikes should make Pakistan think twice before trying another Uri
It was around midnight, when the Army's Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters with 25 commandos from 4-para and 9-para crossed the LoC into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The helicopters dropped the commandos at earmarked spots and returned. They were now in enemy territory.
HOW THEY REACHED THE TARGET
The Army commandos crawled through mud, rocks and even landmines for about 3 kilometres with the threat of being caught in the Pakistan army's crosshairs. Their destinations included seven launch pads where large number of terrorists had gathered. The launch pads were for terrorists waiting to infiltrate into the Indian side of the LoC to carry out terror attacks in the country. The terror launch pads were located in Bhimbar, Kel, Tattapani and Leepa areas.
Opinion | India hits back: 5 reasons why Army's surgical strikes were historic, by Shiv Aroor


The launch pads were under close surveillance of the Indian intelligence agencies. RAW and Military Intelligence had kept an eye on every single movement of terrorists in the target zone.
READ: Avenging Uri: How India conducted surgical strikes in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir
THE SURGICAL STRIKE

The surgical strike team had six targets on mind, three of which were completely destroyed during the operation. Commandos were equipped with Tavor and M-4 guns, grenades and smoke grenades. They also carried under barrel grenade launchers (UBGL) and night-vision devices. They wore camera-mounted helmets.

After reaching the target spot, the commandos used the element of surprise to mount rapid and deadly attacks on the enemy. With the terrorists taken by surprise, the crack troops added to the chaos by firing a flurry of smoke grenades into the terror camps.



Their actions were so precise and quick that by the time terrorists and Pakistani army personnel realized what was happening, at least 50 terrorists had been killed. Two Pakistani army personnel were also killed in the action.
Two para commandos of the strike team received injuries during the mission from landmines.



A DINNER SKIPPED AND A WAR ROOM MEETING
The operation that began at 12.30 am past midnight ended at around 4.30 am on Thursday. Army headquarters in Delhi had finished its preparation for the operation by 8 pm on Wednesday night.

On Wednesday, in fact, there was a dinner at the Coastguard Commander Conference in New Delhi. Besides Parrikar, Doval and General Suhag were expected to attend the dinner party.

However, the three skipped the dinner and held a war-room meeting at Army headquarters, where they reviewed the plan for the surgical operation and gave their final approval.

Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag said that the army had done what it said by "giving a befitting reply at the place and time of its own choice".








VIGILANT AFTER STRIKE

After paying back Pakistan in the same coin, the Indian Army's morale is high but it has also stepped up vigil along the LoC and the border in Jammu and Kashmir as well as Punjab.

All the three armed forces and paramilitary forces have been put on the highest alert. The leaves of Army and BSF personnel have been cancelled.

Areas adjacent to border and LoC in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir are being evacuated. Additional deployment of BSF personnel is also being made. There is a high alert from Gujarat to Kashmir along the border and LoC. Coast Guard has been asked to be extra vigilant.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the Army on successful counter terrorism operations.

Meanwhile, the UN has asked India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and encouraged them to continue their effort to resolve their differences peacefully and through dialogue.
"We are obviously following the situation with great concern concerning the increase of tensions across the Line of Control," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

[h=2]The para commandos preferred M4 carbine as their most favourite weapon against the terrorists. (Screenshot: YouTube- Howcast)[/h]

READ: India hits Pakistan back with surgical strikes across Line of Control, 38 killed
REAL-TIME MONITORING
Meanwhile in Delhi, in a scene similar to the US mission to take out Osama bin Laden, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag monitored the entire operation in real time, receiving footage from the helmet cameras as well as a drone.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was being regularly briefed about the progress of the operation.
Parrikar congratulated the Army for its successful operation. He said that Army had "credible information about the presence of terrorists in the area and we carried out surgical attacks on those camps." PoK is part of India, Parrikar added.
In an important diplomatic move, Doval spoke to his American counterpart Susan Rice and took her into confidence about the cross-border operation.

[h=2]Commandos used Army's Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters to carry out the surgical strikes.[/h]


A DINNER SKIPPED AND A WAR ROOM MEETING
The operation that began at 12.30 am past midnight ended at around 4.30 am on Thursday. Army headquarters in Delhi had finished its preparation for the operation by 8 pm on Wednesday night.

On Wednesday, in fact, there was a dinner at the Coastguard Commander Conference in New Delhi. Besides Parrikar, Doval and General Suhag were expected to attend the dinner party.

However, the three skipped the dinner and held a war-room meeting at Army headquarters, where they reviewed the plan for the surgical operation and gave their final approval.

Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag said that the army had done what it said by "giving a befitting reply at the place and time of its own choice".

 

[V.Balasubramani]

Source: face book