NEW DELHI: In a first, India carried out surgical strikes on seven terror launch pads across the LoC with the Army inflicting “significant casualties” on terrorists preparing to infiltrate from PoK, days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Uri attack would not go unpunished.
Seven terror launch pads across the Line of Control(LoC) were targeted by the Army on the intervening night of September 28 and 29 in a nearly five-hour-long operation during which heliborne and ground forces were deployed, Defence sources said today.
They said the launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) were in the range of 2 to 3km from the LoC and were under surveillance for over one week while Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu said the strikes targeted 5-6 places along Kupwara and Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir. Naidu said there was no casualty on the Indian side. The announcement of the strikes that came 11 days after the attack by Pakistan-based terror outfit JeM on an Indian army camp in Uri in Kashmir over which Modi had said the attackers will not go “unpunished” and that they will not be forgiven and the sacrifice of 18 jawans will not go in vain. The announcement was made by DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh. After the Uri terror attack, the NDA government faced intense pressure for a strong response against Pakistan. Unconfirmed reports said around 40 terrorists were present in the seven launch pads and they may have been killed. However, there was no official word on it. “Based on very credible and specific information which we received yesterday that some terrorist teams had positioned themselves at launch pads along the Line of Control with an aim to carry out infiltration and terrorist strikes in Jammu & Kashmir and in various other metros in our country, the Indian army conducted surgical strikes last night at these launch pads,” Gen Singh told a news conference during which External affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup was also present. Pakistan, however, dismissed as “fabrication of truth” India’s claim that it has conducted a military operation across the LoC to target terrorist launching pads, terming it as a “quest” by India to create media hype by rebranding cross-border fire as surgical strike. “There has been no surgical strike by India, instead there had been cross border fire initiated and conducted by India which is existential phenomenon,” Pakistan army said in a statement in Islamabad.–PTI
