Line that had to be crossed

Time Capsule: Uri surgical strikes (September 29, 2016)

Vijay Mohan

Updated At : 07:58 AM Sep 29, 2024 IST

Uri surgical strikes (September 29, 2016)

It was on September 29, 2016, that India decided enough was enough. Eleven days after 19 soldiers were killed in a terror strike at an Army post in Uri, close to the Line of Control (LoC) in J&K, India — in a bold move — carried out retaliatory strikes on terrorist camps inside Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). The operation, aimed at sending out a strong message, and the first such to be publicly announced, is since marked each year as the Surgical Strikes Day.

On September 18, 2016, a fidayeen attack was carried out by four armed terrorists on the Army base at Uri. The tents in which soldiers were sleeping were set ablaze. India held Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad responsible for the attack, which had come on the heels of similar incidents in the border towns of Gurdaspur and Pathankot in Punjab — not too far from the inter-state border with J&K.

The Uri attack raised serious concern within the Indian establishment. The Army issued a terse statement: it had displayed restraint in the wake of the attacks, but now, it would respond at the time and place of its choosing.

On September 24, top Indian strategists went into a huddle. A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security was reportedly held, where the further course of action was deliberated. Detailed plans for attacking terrorist camps, up to several kilometres inside the POK, were evolved and vetted. The then Chief of Army Staff, Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag; GOC-in-C, Northern Command, Lt Gen Deepinder Singh Hooda; and the Director General Military Operations, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, were the key commanders.

During the intervening night of September 28-29, Special Forces teams crossed the LoC and struck at five locations housing terror camps. The operation began with artillery firing across the LoC to provide cover for the raiding teams, drawn from the Fourth and Ninth Battalions of the Parachute Regiment, permanently based in J&K.

Commandos 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. Grenades, flamethrowers and shoulder-fired rocket launchers were among the weapons used in the surprise attack. After the success of the stellar mission, the teams exfiltrated safely to India. The sole casualty was a soldier who tripped on a land mine.

“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 and Kashmir, and in various other metros in our country, the Indian Army conducted surgical strikes last night at these launch pads," the DGMO said during a briefing on September 29.

The surgical strikes were widely hailed across India. In an interview to a news agency, PM Modi stated that the strikes were planned as “rage” was building up within him as well as the Army after the dastardly killing of the soldiers. He revealed that the date of the attack was changed twice, keeping in mind the safety of the troops.

Though Pakistan initially denied any such incident, the then Pakistani PM, Nawaz Sharif, later convened an emergency Cabinet meeting, where he said Pakistan would take necessary steps to safeguard its territorial integrity.

The strikes also received significant international reaction. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Germany and Russia were among the countries that supported India, while China called upon all relevant parties to exercise restraint.

The European Union also reportedly said it was necessary for India to maintain pressure on Pakistan for eliminating cross-border terrorism. The United Nations called on the governments of India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and encouraged them to resolve their differences through dialogue.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said India’s action had sent out a clear message to the world — "We can kill terrorists on this side as well as by crossing the border if the need arises."