Fighting Terror: Armies in New Urban Warfare

Navigating the realities of Urban Warfare and lessons drawn from the ongoing global fight against terror

- MAJOR GENERAL ATANU K. PATTANAIK (RETD)

BY THE TIME THE dramatic events of 9/11 triggered the US-led Global War on Terror (GWOT), India had been fighting its own war on terror for over a decade. Only difference was that the west and especially the US had refused to recognise the gravity of Pakistan’s use of terror as an instrument of state policy because of their own narrow geopolitical interests. Having failed to take Kashmir first in 1948 and 1965 and after a humiliating defeating the 1971 war which saw the surrender of 93,000 Pakistani troops, then Pakistan Prime Minister Bhutto laid down the doctrine of continuing the conflict by “inflicting a thousand cuts” on India. His Army Chief General Zia-ul-Haq deposed Bhutto in a military coup, had him executed and later gave shape to the Thousand Cuts policy.

Fighting the Global War on Terror

A nascent Khalistan movement was fanned by the ISI, which trained and armed young Sikhs to wage a violent secessionist insurgency that lasted for over a decade starting mid-80s. Operation Blue Star was launched in 1984 by the Indian Army to flush out terrorists from the sacred Golden Temple, giving it first-hand experience of the immense challenges of fighting terror in urban built-up areas. The secessionists then assassinated Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as a revenge and entrenched themselves in the towns and villages of Punjab. The ensuing intense firefights took a heavy toll. 1,714 security personnel, 1,700 soldiers, 7,946 militants, and 11,690 non-combatants were killed throughout the conflict.