Independent investigations carried out by a newspaper and a TV channel, have called Pakistan’s bluff that the Indian Army did not carry out any surgical strikes across the line of Control (loC) on September 29. The reports have come as a major embarrassment for the Nawaz Sharif Government which claimed that the Pakistan Army lost two of its soldiers in ceasefire violations by the Indian Army.
The Indian Express and CNN News 18 TV channel not only independently got details of the action post the Indian Army strikes, but also tricked Pakistani authorities into confessing that Pakistan Army was directly involved in training and pushing terrorists into India. During a conversation with CNN-News 18, a Pakistani police officer even acknowledged that the strikes by India had not only killed several terrorists but also Pakistani soldiers.
Pretending to be Inspector-General Mushtaq, a CNN News18 journalist called up a senior Pakistani police official Ghulam Akbar, who is Superintendent of Police (Special Branch) of the Mirpur Range in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. While giving details to “IG Mushtaq”, Akbar said the strikes killed at least five Pakistani soldiers along with several terrorists in many sectors in the wee hours of September 29.
Akbar admitted that Pakistan Army was caught napping by the Indian Para Commandos and that the bodies of the terrorists were quickly removed by the Pakistani military. The SP also said Pakistan Army put the bodies in ambulances and took them away, adding that many have been buried in villages.
When the journalist sought details about the casualties of that night, Akbar said he personally knew there were attacks that night at Samana in Bhimber, Hazira in Poonch, Dudhnial in Neelam and Kayani in Hattian Bala. He added that the Pakistan Army had cordoned off all these areas immediately after the surgical strikes.
Akbar’s words corroborated the statement of the Indian Director-General of Military Operations lieutenant-General Ranbir Sings who had given some details of the surgical strikes along the loC to destroy terror launch pads.
“Sir, it was night...you can say roughly three to four hours... between 2 am and 5 am... the attack continued between that time,” Akbar told CNN-News18, even confirming the time of the Para Commando raid. “There were attacks in separate places... several places were attacked... they also met with some resistance,” he said.
Akbar also revealed that the Pakistan Army facilitates jehadi movement in forward areas and arranges for their crossing over into India. “The Army brings them, sir... it is in their hands,” he said and added that he could not give accurate numbers because Pakistan Army protects the jehadi infrastructure from even the local authorities and police.
On Wednesday, The Indian Express released a story based on accounts given by eyewitnesses living across the loC to their relatives in India. The witnesses described how bodies of those killed in clashes before dawn on September 29 were loaded on to trucks for secret burials. The eyewitnesses also described brief but intense fire engagements that destroyed makeshift buildings that housed jehadis before they left for the last stage of their journeys across the loC.