Surgical strikes went exactly as planned

The meticulous planning that went into conducting surgical strikes at launch pads inside Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) can be gauged from the fact that initially the operation by Special Forces was to be conducted on Tuesday night. However, it was pushed to a day later as intelligence agencies, which were closely monitoring movement of Pakistani rangers along the Line of Control, informed the Centre that there was heavy patrolling close to the advance launch pads by the Pakistani troops.

Clearly, since New Delhi’s game plan was to avoid any direct confrontation with the Pakistani forces, the surgical strikes were delayed by a day to Wednesday when intelligence inputs revealed that the Pakistani rangers had moved further to a different location from the launch pads.

The information was received on late Wednesday evening. Since the para-commandos were already alerted about the strike, they were immediately ordered to be ready for the operation later that night.

“Multiple agencies were working in close co-ordination and getting concrete actionable intelligence helped us plan the operation better. We had to be careful that the Pakistani forces moved out of the area before we could strike to minimise the collateral damage and a direct conflict with the Pak Army,’’ a senior security official, who was closely involved in the operation, disclosed.

Top security sources also revealed that India was in possession of “credible evidence” of the military action, and it was not merely restricted to just the video shots and photographs taken by the UAVs that the commandos from the 4 and 9 Para were carrying with them.

Intelligence agencies also got wireless intercepts of terror operatives discussing about the strikes carried out by the Indian Army at four locations in Lipa, Kel, Tatapani (Hotspring) and Bhimber.

In one of the intercepts, a terrorist commander from PoK can be heard instructing a militant in the Kashmir Valley to remain on high alert in wake of the incident “as the Army could launch a fresh offensive against them”. Intelligence agencies are trying to ascertain the identity of these militants.

Sources claimed the launch pads destroyed in the strikes had militants from Jaish, Lashkar and Hizbul Mujahideen. Sources added that following the strikes, the Pak Army has now pushed the terror camps further deeper inside Muzaffarabad.

Sources said India has “concrete evidence” confirming that militants operating on the Pakistani soil had been targeted, and if required, it could be shared with the international agencies to expose how Pakistan is sponsoring terror activities inside India.

Intelligence agencies are also preparing an elaborate report on how the Pak Army is helping terror groups in destroying the evidence of the surgical strikes, even helping burying bodies of the militants killed in the operation.