India's surgical strike: An insider's look at how the LoC operation was carried out

It was a scene reminiscent from the past, where President Barack Obama stood with the top brass of the American military and political leadership, to watch the operation as Navy Seals shot and killed Osama bin Laden. Yes, something similar was palpable at the Indian Army's war room on Thursday night, when the Special Forces (SF) were conducting a cross-border raid across the Line of Control (LoC).

A live feed of SF troopers conducting the operation was relayed at two places in the Tactical Headquarters Northern Command in Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir, and the War Room in South Block, Delhi.

Sources said the NSA Ajit Doval had joined the Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Lt Gen Ranbir Singh and watched the entire night, as the operation unfolded around 800 kms away in PoK's Lepa Valley, Tatta Pani and Bimber areas across the LoC.

"The whole operation was filmed and the situation was being monitored from Delhi. In the wee hours, the PM was personally shown the captured feed,'' said a source privy to the events.

To avoid any suspicion, both officers arrived separately. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is also stated to have spent the night in his office and stayed there almost till dawn. Around three SF troopers had installed body worn video cameras on their helmets, which captured the moments from the time the soldiers crossed into PoK territory.
The transmission of the captured feed by the video cameras in Delhi and Jammu was done through satellites. Sources added that the video footage is evidence of the attack on the terrorists' launch pads in PoK and is likely to be released to the public.

Earlier on September 18, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag, while returning from Srinagar on a military aircraft, had taken stock of the aftermath of the attack on the Uri brigade and discussed options. It is believed that Parrikar asked the army chief to give him three options that would involve demonstrable action against Pakistan. He wanted these options before he could report to the Cabinet Committee Security meeting (CCS).

Armed with the options, the defence minister went to the CCS meeting, which took inputs from various agencies — the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. The NTRO and RAW were tasked to get an accurate assessment of the camps and launch pads, the strength of terrorists present there, along with Pakistani army regulars.

The Indian Army's Northern Command also had local intelligence through their Humint (human intelligence) about what was happening across the LoC. Finally, the chosen targets were across the areas under the jurisdiction of 19 Division (in Uri), 28 Division (in Kupwara) and 25 Division (in Rajouri).

The Pakistan military has denied that any cross-border raid was conducted by the Indian Army. It has claimed that it lost two soldiers due to shelling. "The video, if and when, released will confirm the reality of the scale of destruction and casualties on the Pakistan side,'' an Army source said.

While there were no casualties on the Indian side, two Special Forces troopers suffered injuries when they were returning from the LoC. Anti Personnel Mines are there around 5 km from the LoC to prevent any human/animal movement. "The soldiers have suffered some injuries. One is discharged and another is recovering in hospital in Jammu. Pakstani media had reported that eight soldiers were killed in the raids in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and one was captured alive. But the Army denied it vehemently, saying the images played out on Pakistan TV channels claiming to show Indian casualties are doctored or morphed clips and 'absolutely fake'."

Details, trickling in from the Army, also said that to avoid any suspicion, and to distract attention of Pakistani security, helicopters flew in pairs from various bases. "Sortie after sortie in sectors like Uri on the Indian side of the Line of Control were used to lure Pakistan into concentrating on those areas. The army also used heavy-calibre weapons in Uri to draw Pakistan's attention there — allowing the commandos to move through other areas to trek to the targets, which had been placed under surveillance for a week," they said.
A section in the security establishment here believe that Pakistan may have closed its option for escalation by denying that Indian troops carried out "surgical strikes" in its territory, but there are others who are expecting a retaliation in the form of militants backed by its inflicting raids on Indian installations near the Line of Control.
Sources also said that even though there is no mobilisation like the one in 2001 following the attack on the Indian Parliament (Operation Parakram), officers and soldiers of crucial formations have been asked not to take leave.

Though, Thursday operations have broken a long-standing taboo in the minds of India's strategic decision-makers, many still believe that covert operations do punish but may not deter enough to change behaviour unless they escalate to a decisive war.

Former Director-General Perspective Planning of the Indian Army Ghanshyam Katoch believes that measures like restricting water and trade may take time but will give more tangible results for the application of Lex talionis (the law of retaliation, whereby a punishment resembles the offence committed in kind and degree) than covert operations.