Surgical Strikes: A Game Changer

NEW DELHI. On the night of September 28, 2016, several teams of the Special Forces of the Indian Army crossed the Line of Control (LoC) and walked stealthily through gaps in the forward defences of the Pakistan army. The highly-trained commandos quietly made their way across some of the most difficult mountainous terrain in the world.

- Brig Gurmeet Kanwal (Retd)

Their targets were terrorist launch pads across the LoC in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). The operations were meticulously planned and brilliantly executed. The deadly strikes were launched at six to eight terrorist launch pads across the LoC and a large number of terrorists were killed. Pakistani soldiers supporting these launch pads were also killed. Then, as quietly as they had come in, they exfiltrated back across the LoC. Lady Luck was with them and the personnel of the Special Forces did not suffer any casualties, except one mine injury. They brought back photographs and video recordings as evidence. The event was a game changer In carefully measured words later, the Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Gen Ranbir Singh, said during a press briefing on September 29 that India’s Special Forces had “inflicted significant casualties” on the terrorists and their infrastructure in surgical strikes the previous night. From the interviews published in newspapers and recent books and reports of Pakistani radio chat, it is evident that 70- 80 terrorists or their handlers were killed that night.

There was panic on the Pakistani side. The army denied that the surgical strikes had taken place, but the Pakistani media soon nailed the lie.The army was placed on a high state of alert and the leave of soldiers was cancelled. Hafiz Saeed and Azhar Masood, chiefs of the LeT and JeM terrorist organisations, respectively, went into hiding and were not seen for a month.

DEVELOPMENTS SINCE THE STRIKES