After repeated unsuccessful attempts to take on India in conventional conflicts, Pakistan shifted to waging a ‘proxy war’. The mainstay of its doctrine has been to employ irregulars, non-state actors (NSAs) to bleed India in a ‘low intensity war’. Pakistan mastered this art in Afghanistan where it supported the Mujahedeen to defeat the Soviets at the behest of the US. 

Proxy War

Since 1989, Pakistan has been actively involved in fuelling militancy in Kashmir. Ironically, Indian retaliation to terrorist actions has been incidence-specific, and has lacked a holistic approach. September 29, 2016, marked the first time when Indian military response became a part of a well thought-out national strategy in the form of surgical strikes across the LoC.Surgical strikes are well-planned, bold military actions against specific target(s), executed with precision, by specialised forces, to inflict maximum destruction, with minimal collateral damage. Such tactical actions have strategic ramifications; may be executed from ground, air or sea. These military responses require careful selection of objectives aligned with overall strategy, accurate real-time intelligence, seamless coordination amongst various agencies and fine timing. Surprise is most crucial element, a vital prerequisite for success.The destruction of Iraqi Osirak reactor by Israeli air raid in 1981, employment of Tomahawk cruise missiles in the Gulf wars, the use of armed drones and elimination of Osama Bin Laden in 2011 by the US Navy Seals in Abbottabad are classic examples of surgical strikes.The recent operations undertaken by the Army should be viewed as the military component of calibrated national response; which includes politico-diplomatic- economic dimensions. Some salient aspects with regards above surgical strike are:

• The selected targets were known terrorist launch pads in POK. Located in the close proximity of the Pak Army posts astride the LoC, these act as staging areas where terrorists in small groups wait for a short period before crossing over. Launch pads are makeshift shelters and can relocate at a short notice. These were kept under close surveillance both from ground and air, to facilitate accurate target analysis.
• The planning for such operations is done simultaneously at both strategic and operational levels. While it is a political decision to assign the task, the prerogative is of the field commanders to work out the plans and execute the mission. This was the format followed by the government in the run-up to the recent operation.
• The troops selected for execution of the task were from the Special Forces who are attached to the Northern Theatre. They are highly trained, well-rehearsed and equipped with state-of the-art weapons, with capability to operate in all-weather conditions at a short notice. They operate in teams, with strength varying according to a task. For the above operations, a team was tasked for each target, with strength around of 30.
• Execution of the surgical strike by the ground forces has three phases; insertion of force, conduct of strike and exfiltration. In this case, the strike force was heli- lifted to the forward bases during the day. Insertion was on foot in the hours of darkness. All the objectives were engaged simultaneously, well past midnight. The exfiltration had to be speedy, during the hours of darkness to avoid immediate enemy reactions.
• Detailed coordination with units and formations deployed on the LoC is critical, especially during the insertion and exfiltration phases.

Surgical strike by Indian Army across LoC is a manifestation of well calibrated national response to Pakistan with a clear message; there is a penalty to be paid if Islamabad does not mend its ways. India should be well prepared to blunt Pak retaliation, which could be by way of upping the ante astride the LoC and scaling up the terrorist activities in the hinterland. It is also time to expose its hollow nuclear bogey. Delhi has taken the call, projecting itself as a responsible and resilient nation, capable of not only safeguarding its own security but a stabilizing factor in the region at large. Diverse options including calibrated military responses are the only way to make Pakistan misadventures unsustainable and cost-prohibitive.(The writer is former Assistant Chief Integrated Defence Staff, commanded Brigade in Valley; currently Professor Security & Strategy)

They say these camps have made their life hell

Muzaffarabad (PoK), October 6Terror training camps have been thriving in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) for years, according to people living across the area who have shown resentment to Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI for having made their region a haven for anti-social elements.Residents of Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Chinari, Mirpur, Gilgit, Diamer and various parts of the Neelum Valley say their lives have been made hell by the terror training camps as the lawless men, who train here, plunder local villages and molest women.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

They say their region is being used by the ISI to further its proxy war against India.In various interactions, people and leaders in the region spoke about the daily extortion and harassment caused the terror groups which are located near the Line of Control (LoC).“If management doesn’t end Taliban’s terror camps and ‘no-go’ areas in Diamer, Gilgit, Baseen and others, we will take action,” a local leader of Gilgit was seen as saying.Residents confirm that the region is being used as nothing more than a staging post for Pakistan’s proxy war against India. They say they have no sympathy for the terror groups which are perhaps hated more in PoK than anywhere else.PoK leaders like Arif Shahid exposed the ISI terror nexus in the region and paid for it with their lives.Shahid has been found on record saying that the poor people of Pakistan are being exploited by the ISI to wage a jihad against India in which only the Pakistan Army is interested.Shahid fought tooth and nail against Pakistan’s oppression in PoK before he was shot outside his residence in Rawalpindi on May 14, 2013. He was 62. The investigation into Shahid’s murder is still inconclusive, and there is no closure to the cold-blooded murder, so far. The ISI is blamed for conspiring and executing Shahid’s murder.The people of PoK have been demanding the removal of terror camps for years but the state has always turned a deaf ear.Earlier, the PoK witnessed a series of protests by residents against “rigged polls” that saw Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), coming to power. ANI

Says the issue should be left to the Army. ANI

New Delhi, October 5Amid demands for releasing proof of the surgical strikes by the Army across the LoC, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday said everyone should have faith in the government and allow the force to take its own call.“Have faith in the government and leave it to the Army,” he told reporters here when asked about the demand for release of proof of the surgical strikes by the Army.A political slugfest broke out on Tuesday over the surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the LoC with Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam calling it “fake”, provoking stinging criticism from the BJP even as his own party said it “totally dissociates” itself from his remarks.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The Congress leader demanded “some evidence” to prove that the surgical strikes did take place and accused the BJP of indulging in politics over the issue.With patriotic sentiments running high amid soaring tensions with Pakistan, Union Minister Uma Bharti said leaders who cast “doubt over the Army’s surgical strike should take Pakistani citizenship”. PTI

Army personnel comb Sheikhu Chak village in the Suchetgarh sector on Tuesday after locals reported suspicious movement in the area. Tribune Photo: Inderjeet Singh

Sumit Hakhoo

Tribune News Service

Suchetgarh, October 4

In the wake of escalating cross-border tension, villagers in forward areas in the Suchetgarh sector, 27km from Jammu, are living a life of uncertainty as about 8,000 kanals under basmati crop is under the shadow of Pakistani guns.The land falls near the fence erected by the government and some of it goes beyond the concertina wires for keeping the infiltrators away. Though the guns are still silent in the RS Pura-Suchetgarh belt yet the fear of losing their crop near the border is giving sleepless nights to people who do not wish to leave their homes despite the evacuation order issued by the government following the heightened tension on the international border and the Line of Control after the Uri terror attack on September 18 and the retaliation by India in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on September 29.Despite the fear of Pakistani small arms and mortar fire, villagers could be seen working in fields in the hope that restraint shown by military commanders from both sides would hold till farmers harvested their prized basmati crop.“This entire belt onwards till the Pakistani side is known for the world-famous basmati and harvesting is still a month away. There is a lot of anxiety among the people about what will happen to the crop if the shelling resumes,” said Mohinder Kumar, a resident of a border village in Suchetgarh. His village is just 500 metres from the international border and sentry towers of the Pakistan Rangers are visible from his fields.The villagers’ concern has grown as Pakistani guns are booming in the Pagarwal sector in Akhnoor, forcing thousands to leave their homes and crops behind to take shelter in makeshift camps established by the government in educational institutions.The border residents here are aware that shelling in the past has left several people dead and injured. “Life is very short here. A few years ago, a young boy, grazing his cattle, was killed after he became a victim of sniper fire from across the border. Death lurks everywhere and during tension on the border, our miseries increase”, said Shamshir Singh while cutting grass for his cattle.People in border villages in Jammu have always lived on the edge as they come in the first line of attack during cross-border shelling. During the Kargil war of 1999, hundreds of kanals of prime land was taken over by the Army to lay mines, leaving thousands of farmers without livelihood. 

Alert villagers help in search op

• Suchetgarh: Army and police personnel started scanning paddy fields near a village about one km from the border in Suchetgarh on Tuesday morning after a woman saw a suspicious person. Rakesh Singh, a farmer, joined the operation. He remained with the Army and police throughout the day. Though the search did not yield anything, it highlighted the alertness and cooperation of villagers.

CHENNAI: In yet another outrageous incident, terrorists on Sunday carried out a “Fidayeen” style attack on an Army camp located in the outskirts of the Baramulla town. One BSF jawan was reportedly killed in the incident and two others were injured. Both the terrorists involved in the attack were killed by the forces, claimed unconfirmed media reports.

The brazen attack has come less than a week after Indian Special Forces smashed seven terror launchpads in surgical strikes across the Line of Control. “The terrorists opened fire at an Army camp at Jabanzpora in Barmulla district,” Army spokesperson Col Rajesh Kalia said.

The Army camp, according to agencies, is located about 50 km away from the Baramulla town. “The firing was reported at 46 battalion of Rashtriya Rifles and terrorists are believed to have entered the establishment through adjacent BSF camp,” official sources were quoted saying. “Some were also firing from houses adjacently located from the camp.” The attack comes following intelligence inputs about possible terrorist attacks on security installations in Jammu and Kashmir after the surgical strikes on September 29. The attack also comes exactly a fortnight after terrorists struck at army brigade headquarters at Uri, 102 kms from here killing 19 soldiers.

Cross-border firing reported: In yet another ceasefire violation, Pakistani troops launched firing and shelling on forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Pallanwala sector of Jammu district on Sunday evening.

Firing and shelling from across LoC started late in the evening in forward areas in Pallanwala belt along the LoC. It is intermittently going on,” a Police officer said. The officials could not confirm if any casualties were reported.

This is the sixth ceasefire violation since the surgical strike. On Saturday, Pakistani troops fired at Indian posts and civilian areas with mortar bombs, rocket-propelled grenades and heavy-machine guns in Pallanwala and Chamb areas.

Intel reports had warned of retaliation

The attack comes following reports by intelligence agencies warning the armed forces in Kashmir of a retaliation by terrorists to the surgical strikes carried out by India in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The attack also comes exactly a fortnight after the Uri attack

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR COMMANDERS ON THE GROUND IS TO STRIKE A BALANCE BETWEEN KEEPING THE TROOPS BATTLE READY, AND ENSURING THAT THEY ARE NOT WORN OUT.

On the Line of Control (LoC), life is no picnic. Yet, a year ago, soldiers could break the monotony of keeping the troubled border under watch with occasional leisure activities. Sometimes, this meant a game of chess or carrom. Or flipping through a Bollywood glossy. Soldiers would even soak in the breathtaking beauty of the treacherous mountains.
GURINDER OSAN/HT PHOTO
Indian Army soldiers at forward posts in front of the illuminated fence in Hamirpur area near Bhimber Gali, about 180 km north west of Jammu. Soldiers barely get four hours of sleep when the situation on the border is tense.
Back then, when this correspondent toured the LoC for a week, things may not have been rosy but they weren’t this tense. Pakistani provocations had compelled India to shed a culture of restraint and lift a self-imposed restriction on using artillery guns. Border violations peaked in intensity and numbers last September, leaving the 2003 ceasefire in tatters.
But the LoC was never as volatile as it is now in the aftermath of Thursday’s surgical strikes by India’s Special Forces, the first direct military response to the Uri attack that left 19 men dead. “The strikes across the LoC are only the first step. It is an ongoing operation and we expect and are preparing for a retaliation,’’ says a Valley-based officer. A localised conflict can spread rapidly along the LoC.
The life of men guarding the de facto border has undergone a sea change, as the army is on its highest alert level to deal with a counter-offensive from Pakistan. There are serious concerns about hostilities escalating. So there’s absolutely no question of soldiers tossing a volleyball around, watching TV or finding time to prepare for a promotion exam.
Apart from leave restrictions amid heightened tensions, they are also getting less sleep, say army officers serving at the LoC. “Leisure activities are totally ruled out. The focus is on operational readiness and nothing else,” points out an officer on condition of anonymity. The soldiers have orders to retaliate with lethal force to any aggression.

If soldiers were getting six hours of sleep before hostilities spiked, they are now making do with barely four hours. Another officer explains, “Sleep is a casualty as we want maximum manpower available at all times. We have to guard all flanks, given the build-up on the other side.”

The army has intensified patrolling along the LoC and is keeping a cautious watch on a maze of routes infiltrators could take. Rogue border action teams could strike anytime — remember Hemraj’s beheading and the cold-blooded killing of five Indian soldiers in Poonch three years ago?

“When the situation is normal, you can sometimes afford to man infiltration routes selectively. That could be suicidal now,” says the officer. The army’s contingency plans are in place and the possibility of a flare up has been factored in.

“In its efforts to show it is equally strong, Pakistan may just repeat what India has done. But it’s fully aware that such as action would amount to an act of war,” says former army vice chief Lieutenant General AS Lamba (retd).

How Pakistan reacts is anybody’s guess. A senior army officer in Delhi says no matter what course the adversary takes, the army is prepared to deal with it. But the shadows of Pathankot and Uri loom large.

“We will dominate the conflict at any level of the escalation ladder,” he says, adding Pakistan may respond now, in a week or several months later. Battle readiness is constantly being reviewed. India cannot afford another Uri.

The biggest challenge for commanders on the ground is to strike a balance between keeping the troops battle ready and ensuring they aren’t worn out. “You can’t keep them on highest alert level for a year. We are monitoring how things unfold,” he says.

Last September, this correspondent visited several posts along a 224-km stretch of the 740 km-long LoC. At one such post in Poonch sector, guarded by one of the army’s largest brigades with nine battalions, I met a 22-year-old Gorkha soldier who had just returned from a punishing patrol.

There was chicken and rice for dinner but he was keener on reading some current affairs’ magazines tucked under his pillow. He was trying to make time to study for an exam that could fulfil his dream of becoming an army officer. His commanding officer called me a few months later breaking the news that the soldier had passed the exam.

Some of those dreams may be on the back burner now. A lot has changed at the LoC – except the stunning landscape dotted with towering ridges, dense pine groves, lush valleys and maize fields.

Lahore, September 30

Pakistan Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Friday termed the Simla Agreement signed by India and Pakistan after the 1971 war a “big mistake” as it “hurt the Kashmiri freedom struggle”.Shahbaz is the brother of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. His statement evoked sharp criticism from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), whose then chairman and Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his Indian counterpart Indira Gandhi signed the pact in 1972. “Someone should teach the CM what foreign policy is,” tweeted PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.The agreement resulted in the release of some 90,000 Pakistani soldiers imprisoned by India following the 1971 war. — IANS

New Delhi: Less than two weeks after the Uri terror attack, the Ministry of Defence has okayed an electronic warfare system to enhance the Army’s capability to fight a low-intensity conflict in Jammu and Kashmir.The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), which met  under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, okayed the Rs 330-crore project. This would include equipment that would not only jam gadgets, including mobile phones, radio transmitters and thermal imagers, but also access the conversation of suspects. There would also be a set of sensors to pick the movement of the targeted people. The DAC also approved the purchase of Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs) and a new repair facility for Scorpene submarines at the Mumbai naval dockyard. — TNS

Pak envoy was given details of two guides who helped terrorists reach the Uri camp. — File photo

New Delhi, September 27

For the second time in less than 10 days, India’s Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on Tuesday issued a demarche to Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit over Uri attack and confronted him with proof of “cross-border origins” of the terror strike in which 18 jawans were killed.The Foreign Secretary called in Basit and told him that the preliminary interrogation reveals identity of one of the slain Uri attackers as Hafiz Ahmed, son of Feroz and a resident of Dharbang, Muzaffarabad, and also gives details of Pakistan-based handlers, MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

“Local villagers in the Uri sector apprehended on September 21 and handed over to Indian security forces two individuals from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir who have acted as guides for terrorists and helped them infiltrate across the Line of Control (LoC).“Their particulars are: Yasin Khurshid (19), s/o Mohammed Khurshid and a resident of Khiliana Kalan in Muzzaffarabad, and Faizal Hussain Awan (20), s/o Gul Akbar and from Potha Jahangir, also in Muzzaffarabad,” Basit was told.The NIA has taken custody of the duo arrested in its probe in the attack.During his interrogation, Awan has deposed to the NIA that they had “guided and facilitated” the border crossing of the group that perpetrated the September 18 Uri massacre, the Foreign Secretary told him.In another incident on September 23, 2016, one Pakistani national, Abdul Qayoom, resident of Sialkot, was apprehended in Molu sector opposite Pakistan’s Sialkot sector and has confessed to undergoing three weeks of training with the terrorist group LeT and donating substantial funds to Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation, their front organisation, Basit was conveyed.“We are willing to provide the Pakistan High Commission consular access to these three individuals apprehended in connection with terrorist attacks in India,” the Foreign Secretary told the Pakistani envoy.Basit was also told that these apprehensions and subsequent interrogation underline the cross-border infiltration that had been the subject of their previous discussion.“We would once again strongly urge the Government of Pakistan to take seriously its commitment not to allow terrorist attacks against India from its soil and territory under its control. Continuing cross-border terrorist attacks from Pakistan against India are unacceptable,” Jaishankar asserted.This is the second time since the attack on September 18 that the Pakistani envoy has been summoned over the terror strike which India maintains was carried out by Pakistan-based terror groups.New Delhi has already offered to provide Pakistan with fingerprints and DNA samples of terrorists killed in Uri and Poonch, if that country wished to investigate these cross-border attacks. — Agencies

One of the most professionally satisfying experiences of my life was the two years I spent in command of the Kala Pahar Brigade at Uri. This brigade occupies and defends some crucial areas of our country.

At first, a few basics for the reader. It was through the Uri salient that the kabalis (tribals) advanced towards Baramulla and Srinagar in 1947, triggering the first Indo-Pak war. It was here again, in 1965, that Major Ranjit Dayal led the assault on Haji Pir (in PoK) which won him the Mahavir Chakra. Even without wars this is the area where the longest, most intense artillery duels have been fought across the LoC making the then Commander, Brig (later Lt Gen) Jasbir Lidder, coin the famous credo, “when Uri rumbles, Chakothi crumbles”. Chakothi, of course is located on the PoK side of the LoC.

No Boundary Wall in the Garrison Town

The sneak attack in the morning of 18 September has not been against expectations. While one can find fault at the tactical level with tactical security drills, the number of sentries and the like, that is hardly significant. The malaise is in the thinking and that includes my own.

The road to the border cuts through the garrison and is used by all civilian motor and pedestrian traffic, though with strict checking and control.

Even at the height of sneak terror attacks in 1999-2003, it was not considered a priority to construct a boundary wall for this garrison. The assumption was that terror attacks would take place in the Valley while action at the LoC would be artillery and small arms duels between the two armies. The garrison is 6 kms crow flight from the LoC.

Uri has never had resident militancy. The brigade prides itself on its conventional war fighting and ‘No War No Peace’ roles on the LoC, the rear has been perceived as less important. Since security is a basic principle of war, operational prudence demands equal focus on the Brigade HQ on the basis that no areas are safe.

Also Read: Uri Attack: Remember the Names, Faces, the People They Left Behind