Surgical strikes: Commandos combed 250 km to destroy terror launch pads

The commandos trekked for ten hours before they reached their targets which were across the LoC.

New Delhi: Indian commandos, who were instrumental in carrying out Thursday’s surgical strikes across the LoC, had combed a staggering area of 250 km to target the seven terror launchpads.

According to a report in NDTV, the commandos had to trek for ten hours, before they could reach the launchpads in PoK, which were in the range of 2 to 3 kilometres from the LoC. The area had been under surveillance for over a week.

Read: A day after surgical strikes, Pak army opens fire on Indian posts along LoC

The operation had received a go ahead only on Wednesday afternoon and helicopters were flown out in pairs to carry out the operation. They conducted several sorties to divert Pakistan’s attention into certain sectors, including Uri, so facilitate easy movement of the commandos.

After an arduous trek of ten hours, the commandos crossed the LoC in Poonch and Nowgam sectors and reached their targets by 1.45 am. Sources say that is was an almost moonless night, which was very crucial to the operation, helping the commandos go unnoticed.

Read: India turns heat on Pakistan to release jawan taken captive

As soon as the commandos reached their targets, they attacked and destroyed the terror launch pads. The weapons used in the operation included Swedish-designed Carl Gustav rocket launcher, a shoulder-fired rifle, which is operated by two soldiers and is capable of taking out tanks.

By the time Pakistan reacted to the surgical strikes, Indian troops were back to their bases, almost ‘unscratched’. Only one jawan sustained minor injuries from the mine he had stepped on at the Indian side of the LoC.

One soldier that had been captured by Pakistan on Thursday, was not part of the surgical strikes and had “inadvertently crossed over to the other side of the Line of Control”. The government said it is doing all it can to secure his release.