Watch Video: Surgical strike video released, shows ops against terror camps

On September 29, 2016, the Indian Army announced that it attacked terrorists' camps along the Line of Control using ground forces.

 

 

Surgical Strike → Purported visuals of the Indian Army's cross-border operations against terrorists about two years ago were broadcast by television channels on Wednesday night. 

News channels said the grainy footage on air showed gunfire and explosions targeting enemy camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, an operation that came in retaliation to a terrorist strike on an Indian Army camp and is widely known as surgical strikes.

The reports also said these videos, provided to TV channels by sources, were shot by drones using thermal imaging cameras. Business Standard could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos but an official who was directly in charge of the operation confirmed that they were real.

“When the surgical strikes happened, my view was that the videos should have been released as proof. It is good that they have come out now,” Lt General D S Hooda (retd) told The Indian Express.

On September 29, 2016, the Indian Army announced that it attacked terrorists' camps along the Line of Control using ground forces. The act, which officials said inflicted “significant casualties” on terrorists, came after a deadly attack on a military base in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 that year.

Pakistan rejected India's claims of having launched a surgical strike on terrorist camps in Pakistani territory. In a book launched on the first anniversary of surgical strikes, an Army Major, who reportedly led the mission, said the return was the most difficult part and bullets fired by the enemy were so close that these were whistling past the ears.

The officer, referred to as Major Mike Tango, said in the book,"The target list was scrutinised along a top-secret chain of command that numbered barely a handful of people, with 'need to know' rules applicable throughout.

Watch → Surgical Strike Video

Uri attack: Military reviews 'escalation ladder'

The strike by jihadi militants on Sunday on an army camp near Uri, in which 18 soldiers were killed and 29 injured, has inflamed tensions along the Line of Control (LoC). On Tuesday, the army shot down eight Pakistani militants after intercepting a 15-strong group that was discovered infiltrating from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK).

With public opinion and the media aroused, and with Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowing to punish those responsible; and the army's top operations officer declaring the military would retaliate at a time and place of its choosing, both sides of the LoC are bracing for what might come.

New Delhi has pinned the attack on the Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militia controlled by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), a wing of the Pakistani Army. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has declared Pakistan a "terrorist state" and the Indian Army, already grappling with public turmoil in the Kashmir Valley, is evaluating options to extract revenge for Uri.

Pakistan presents an easy target for an Indian diplomatic offensive against its terror-friendly ways, in western capitals and multilateral forums. However, a calibrated military riposte would need more careful consideration.

Business Standard has discussed India's options with senior officers close to the planning process. All of them agree the army can easily initiate retaliation. But, thereafter, there would be two sides in the game. Escalation would be both inevitable and unpredictable.

India's first option is to retaliate through fires (the effect of weapons) without Indian forces physically crossing the LoC. This would involve "fire assaults" on targets across the border, using artillery, missiles, and multi-barrel rocket launchers and Brahmos cruise missiles for deeper-lying targets. A fire assault involves suddenly opening up intense fire with massed weapons on an unsuspecting and carefully chosen target, catching people in the read full story

Act to designate Pakistan State Sponsor of terrorism introduced

A bipartisan group of two powerful American lawmakers has introduced an act in the US House of Representatives to designate Pakistan a State Sponsor of terrorism.

"It is time we stopped paying Pakistan for its betrayal and designate it for what it is: a state sponsor of terrorism," said Congressman Ted Poe, who is Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism.

The 'Pakistan State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Act' (HR 6069) has been introduced by Republican Poe along with Congressman Dana Rohrabacher of the Democratic Party, who is Ranking member of this influential Congressional Committee on terrorism.

"Not only is Pakistan an untrustworthy ally, Islamabad has also aided and abetted enemies of the US for years," Poe said.

"From harbouring Osama bin Laden to its cozy relationship with the Haqqani network, there is more than enough evidence to determine whose side Pakistan is on in the War on Terror. And it's not America's," he alleged.

Poe said the bill will require the Obama Administration to formally answer this question.

The President must issue a report within 90 days of passage detailing whether or not Pakistan has provided support for international terrorism, he said.

"Thirty days after that, the Secretary of State must issue a follow-up report containing either a determination that Pakistan is a State Sponsor of terrorism or a detailed justification as to why Pakistan does not meet the legal criteria for designation," Poe said.

In a separate statement, Congressman Pete Olson supported every effort to bring to justice the perpetrators of the  read full story