Revision as of 17:43, 30 September 2016

Covert missions: 1971- Aug 2016

Covert missions carried out by India, The Times of India 30 Sep, 2016 These are some past secret operations conducted by the Indian Army in the neighbourhood.

1971/ East Pakistan

Army closely collaborated with Mukti Bahini inside then East Pakistan in the build-up to the 1971 Bangladesh war. The operation has not been officially acknowledged.

19?? / Kashmir=

Indian Special Forces and Ghatak platoons of infantry are known to conduct tactical ops across the LoC in Kashmir to cause small-scale damage and send a strong point across.

1995 Myanmar (Apr-May)

India and Myanmar (then Burma) conducted a joint military operation blocking around 200 NSCN, ULFA and KLO militants moving through the Myanmar-Mizoram border towards Manipur after picking up an arms consignment from Bangladesh.

2002/ Op Parakram

Indian troops were engaged in limited action across the border a few times, for instance in 2002 during Op Parakram

2003/ Bhutan

Operation All Clear, conducted inside Bhutan in December 2003 to eliminate Northeastern militant groups. Operation acknowledged by the government. About 30 militant camps, including ULFA, NDFB and KLO hideouts, were targeted, leading to 650 militants being "neutralised".

2006/ Myanmar (January)

India and Myanmar reportedly conducted joint military operations inside Myanmar, targeting NSCN (K) militants in exchange of transfer of some military equipment to Myanmar Army by India.

2013/ ? on the LOC (January)

Jyoti Malhotra, Across The Thin Line, Sep 30 2016 : The Times of India

[In 2016] none other than former army chief, Gen Bikram Singh, has come on record to say that such strikes by Indian soldiers have taken place in the past as well, including in the wake of the decapitation of two Indian soldiers in January 2013 when Manmohan Singh's UPA was in power.

The difference [in 2016 was] that [PM] Modi made a political call to own the cross-LoC strikes. In 2013, no one knew that such a strike had even taken place.

2015/ Myanmar (June)

Indian Army's strike inside Myanmar took 70 commandos and 40 minutes to kill 38 Naga insurgents.

2016/ Myanmar border (Aug) 'Surgical strike' against NSCN (K)

Rajat Pandit | TNN | Aug 20, 2016, The Times of India 'Surgical strike' inside Myanmar by Army?

• A major gun battle took place between Army troops and suspected NSCN (K) militants along the India-Myanmar border

• The militants fled back into Myanmar leaving some weapons behind

MON (Nagaland): A major gunbattle took place between Army troops and suspected National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) militants along the India-Myanmar border, in the Mon district of Nagaland, on Friday. Unconfirmed media reports said at least 30 Indian paratroopers had conducted a "surgical strike" inside Myanmar, and quoted the NSCN-K+ as claiming that it had killed "five to six" commandos. However, Army sources rejected the reports and said the gunbattle took place inside Indian territory .

The fierce encounter took place near Throilu village in Mon district on "our side of the border" at about 5.30am, said Army sources. "Our troops had laid an ambush along a known infiltration route. After the ensuing gunfight, the militants fled back into Myanmar. They left some weapons behind. There were no casualties on our side," said a source.

In June last year+ , days after militants had killed 18 Army soldiers, Indian special forces had conducted a surgical military strike across the Myanmar border to inflict "significant casualties" on the groups behind that ambush, NSCN (K) and Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL). Soldiers of Assam Rifles and NSCN(K) cadres exchanged heavy fire at about 4am near Chenmoho in Nagaland's Mon district, which shares its eastern border with Myanmar, state police said on Friday.

"There was heavy exchange of fire between NSCN (K) cadres and Assam Rifles soldiers. The incident was reported early in the morning. As of now, no casualties have been reported," Yangba Konyak, SP (Mon), was quoted as saying by news agencies. Sources said senior officials had reached the spot for stock-taking. NSCN(K) is a banned militant outfit which last March abrogated a 14-year-old ceasefire with the Centre.

Sept 2016: reprisals for attack at Uri

Indian Army's reprisals on 29 Sept 2016 for the attack at Uri
The Times of India

Rajat Pandit, Pak Crossed The Line, India Crosses LoC, Sep 30 2016 : The Times of India

PAYBACK FOR URI: In `Surgical Strikes', Army Hits 7 Terror Launchpads In PoK On A Dim-Moon Night, Kills 40-55

In a stunning reprisal for the Uri terror attack [on Sept 18, 2016], India conducted “surgical strikes“ on seven terrorist “launch pads“ across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the early hours of [29 Sept 2016] . Top government sources said that it was “not possible to immediately quantify“ the number of terrorists killed in the strikes carried out by crack Para-Special Forces who simultaneously hit five launchpads located 1.5-6.5 km inside PoK. “According to an initial estimate, as many as 40 to 55 terrorists were killed. But it will take some time to arrive at the approximate number of casualties after the Para-SF teams are properly de-briefed and photographs and videos analysed,“ said a source.

Unlike earlier engagements, the government and the Army boldly proclaimed they had undertaken a big operation across the LoC and justified it by citing an imminent terror threat.

Director General of Military Operation Lt Gen Ranbir Singh along with home minister Rajnath Singh and NSA Ajit Doval told leaders that around 200 soldiers were involved in the operation.

This marked the abandonment of “strategic restraint“: The doctrine which eschewed use of military reprisals for fear of a nuclear conflict and its replacement by a posture of effective military retribution and, more crucially , of pre-emption. It was a stark announcement that the fear of a nuclear showdown has ceased to be a deterrent for India The DGMO justified the action by citing “specific and credible' inputs of terrorist teams positioning themselves at launch pads at LoC “to carry out infiltration and conduct terrorist strikes inside J&K and in various metros“.

Disclosing that he had called his Pakistan counterpart to inform him of the raids, Gen Singh asserted that while the action had ceased, India could undertake similar operations whenever faced with threat to its nationals.

The action came against the clamour for reprisal and mounting pressure on the Modi government to walk its “tough-on-terror“ talk. But while BJP and the government has reason to celebrate, the tough response passed muster with the entire political class, with even opponents who accused Modi government for being `hawkish' applauding the feat of Army and pledging support: a development which could lead to setting of a new benchmark for response to Pakistan-backed terrorism.

The raids, coming a day after Pakistan defence minister Mohammad Khwaja's threat to nuke India, caught Islamabad unawares. It denied the strikes, but soon came around to accept that two of its soldiers had been killed and nine injured in “cross-border firing“. Its different power centres reacted differently, with the Army seeking to downplay the embarrassment, and the civilian leadership warning against more such adventures.

The covert Para-SF raids on the five launch pads were backed by “concentrated fire assaults“ to target two other launch pads -each typically has 10-20 terrorists, 4-5 guides and 5-10 assistants -and three Pakistan army posts across the LoC. The pads are used by terrorists just prior to crossing the LoC and never for more than a couple of days at a time.

After the five teams of 200 commandos from 4 Paras-SF and 9 Para-SF units returned safely after “achieving the desired full impact“ before sunrise on Thursday , Lt-Gen Singh also spoke to his Pakistani counterpart to inform him that the “operations aimed at neutralising terrorists“ had ended.

After UAVs and other intelligence gave “specific and credible inputs“ about the presence of terrorists being positioned at the launch pads kept under constant surveillance for the last few days, the Para-SF teams were directed to spring into action just after “last light“ on Wednesday .Carrying heavy weapon loads, they quietly slipped across the LoC around midnight to finally reach the launch pads by around 3am, skirting Pakistan army posts at altitudes ranging from 2,000 to 6,000 feet, said sources.

The commandos then let loose with all the firepower at their command, finishing their designated tasks by around 4.30am. Nine of them were injured, one slightly seriously in a mine blast. “But they do not leave their comrades behind... all safely made it back to our side before sunrise. Towards the end, Pakistan Army did indulge in some speculative firing but there were no casualties. During the entire operation, the Army and IAF were on high alert for any intervention or extrication mission if the need arose,“ said the source.