‘A pre-planned operation’: How Pakistan army carried out an attack 250 metres inside Indian territory
Pakistan’s Border Action Team (BAT) set up the ambush and waited for a long time for the patrol team, while Pakistani troops attacked two forward posts with rockets and mortar bombs along the Line of Control.(AFP Photo )
An Indian Army patrol team was taken by surprise by a group of Pakistani special forces who had set up an ambush more than 250 metres deep inside Indian territory early on Monday morning and beheaded two security personnel.
Pakistan’s Border Action Team (BAT) set up the ambush and waited for a long time for the patrol team, while Pakistani troops attacked two forward posts with rockets and mortar bombs along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.
“It was a pre-planned operation by Pakistan army. They had pushed in the Border Action Team over 250 metres deep inside Indian territory and set up the ambush over a long period to carry out the attack,” a senior officer said.
“Their target was a patrol party of 7-8 members, which had come out of a post,” the officer said, adding that as the posts were engaged, the patrol team members ran for cover. In the process, two members were left behind and targeted by the BAT.
Head constable Prem Sagar of 200th Battalion of the BSF and Naib Subedar Paramjeet Singh of 22 Sikh Regiment of the army were killed and their bodies mutilated.
The BAT is specifically employed for trans-LoC action.
In Pakistan, the SSG (special services group) forms the core of BAT. Its primary task is to dominate the LoC by carrying out disruptive actions in the form of surreptitious raids.
There have been several BAT attacks in the past in which jawans have been beheaded or their bodies mutilated.
On October 28, 2016, militants attacked a post and killed an Indian Army soldier and mutilated his body close to the Line of Control (LoC) in the Machil sector.
In January 2013, Lance Naik Hemraj was killed and his body mutilated by a BAT. It also beheaded Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh. Constable Rajinder Singh of the BSF battalion suffered injuries in the attack.
In June 2008, a soldier of the 2/8 Gorkha Rifles lost his way and was captured by a Pakistani Border Action Team (BAT) in Kel sector. His body was found beheaded after a few days.
During the 1999 Kargil conflict, Captain Saurabh Kalia was tortured by his Pakistani captors who later handed over his mutilated body to India.
In February, 2000, militant Ilyas Kashmiri had led a raid on the Indian Army’s ‘Ashok Listening Post’ in the Nowshera sector to kill seven Indian soldiers. The Kashmiri had taken back to Pakistan the head of a 24-year-old Indian jawan, Bhausaheb Maruti Talekar of the 17 Maratha Light Infantry.
Past incidents of mutilation of Indian soldiers
- May, 1999: Six soldiers on patrol in the Kaksar sector of Jammu and Kashmir were taken captive by the Pakistan army on May 15, 1999. They were tortured for weeks before being killed and their mutilated bodies were handed over to India on June 9. It triggered the Kargil war.
- Feb, 2000: Pakistani terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri led a raid on Indian Army’s Ashok Listening Post in the Noushera sector, killing seven Indian soldiers. He took back to Pakistan the head of one Indian jawan.
- June, 2008: A soldier lost his way and was captured by a Pakistani border action team in Kel sector. His body was found beheaded a few days later.
- Jan, 2013: One soldier was beheaded and another killed by Pakistani troops after they crossed into the Mendhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
- Oct 28, 2016: A soldier’s body was found mutilated in Kupwara’s Machil near the Line of Control while the army was engaged in cross-border firing with Pakistan’s army.
- Nov 22, 2016: Suspected Pakistani troops killed three soldiers and mutilated one of the bodies during a gunfight in the Machhil sector along the LoC in Kupwara.
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