Anupama Nair
29th September is a very important day in the history of the Indian Army. On this day in 2016, our Army successfully conducted a military strike against our arch enemy Pakistan. The strikes were done to avenge the Uri Terror Attack or the ‘grenade attacks’ carried out by terrorists near the town of Uri in the Indian territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It was reported as “the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir in two decades”. The notorious terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed was involved in the planning and execution of the attack.
The terrorists had started high-profile fidayeen or suicide attacks against the Indian security forces. In July 2015, three terrorists attacked a bus and police station in Gurdaspur and in 2016, 4–6 terrorists managed to attack the Pathankot Air Force Station. The Jaish-e-Mohammad was blamed for the attacks. On 18 September, four terrorists attacked an Indian Army brigade headquarters in Uri, near the Line of Control in a pre-dawn ambush. They were said to have hurled 17 grenades in three minutes. Seventeen army personnel were killed during the attack. Around 30 soldiers were reported to have been injured. A gun battle followed for six hours, during which all the four militants were killed. Combing operations continued to flush out additional terrorists thought to be alive. The casualties occurred as a result of non-fire-retardant transition tents. The attackers crept into the camp breaching heavy security and seemed to know exactly where to strike. Seven of the personnel killed were support staff, including cooks and barbers.
To avenge the Uri strikes, the Indian Army carried out surgical strikes against terror launchpads on and along the LoC. The surgical strikes were carried out nearly 10 days after the Uri terror attack. On September 28, 2016, the Indian Army mobilized its specially trained operators to carry out attacks at terror launchpads. The exact planning for the operation was accepted by the Army's Northern Command in Udhampur after a decision to carry out the strikes was taken by India's top military leadership in New Delhi in close coordination with the country's political leadership.
Prior to the D-day, the Special Forces had identified their targets i.e., launchpads used for terrorist infiltration, and surveilled them for days. On the night of October 28-29, at ‘H-hour’, a coded signal went out to the teams “the operators opened up with the portable artillery they had backpacked across the LoC-Carl Gustaf rocket launchers, thermobaric rockets, under-barrel grenade launchers clipped on rifles and ‘Milkor’ multiple grenade launchers that spat out six 40 mm grenades in one pull of the trigger”.
The Indian officials said the strikes targeted areas close to the LoC, where it believed militants assemble for their final briefings before crossing the LoC. As media report said “the operation began with Indian forces firing artillery across the frontier to provide cover for three to four teams of 70–80 soldiers from the 4th and 9th battalions of the Para Special Forces to cross the LoC at several separate points on 29 September. Teams from 4 Para crossed the LoC in the Nowgam sector of Kupwara district, while teams from 9 Para simultaneously crossed the LoC in Poonch district. The special forces teams had travelled 1–3 km on foot, and had begun destroying terrorist bases with hand-held grenades and 84 mm rocket launchers. The teams then swiftly returned to the Indian side of the LoC, suffering only one injury, a soldier wounded after tripping a land mine”.
The Indian Army said the strike was a pre-emptive attack on militant bases, claiming that it had received intelligence reports that the militants were planning ‘terrorist strikes’ against India. India said that, in “destroying terrorist infrastructure it also attacked those who are trying to support them, and it attacked Pakistani soldiers too”. India later briefed opposition parties and foreign envoys, but did not disclose operational details.
I feel very proud of my Jai Hind ki Sena. Vande Mataram.
