The government is celebrating the fourth anniversary of the surgical strikes on Monday. The attacks against terrorist groups were carried out in response to the deadly attack on an army camp in Uri of Jammu and Kashmir in September 2016.
During his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio address on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reminded the nation about strikes.
“Four years ago, around this time, the world witnessed the courage, bravery and valor of our soldiers during the surgical strike. Our brave soldiers had only one mission and goal: to protect the glory and honor of Mother India at any cost. They didn’t care about her life at all. They continued to advance in the line of duty and we all witnessed how they returned victorious. They made mother India proud, ”Prime Minister Modi said.
The attacks were carried out by the Indian Army Special Forces who crossed the Line of Control (LoC) on the night of September 27-28, 2016 and destroyed the terror platforms in Pakistani-occupied Kashmir (PoK). This was in response to the suicide attack carried out by Pakistan-based terrorists against an army base in the Baramulla district of Uri in northern Kashmir on September 18 of that year. Nineteen soldiers died in the attack.
PM Modi had said that the attackers will not go “unpunished” and that they will not be forgiven and the sacrifice of 18 jawans will not be in vain.
The army’s preparation for the attacks began on September 24. Special forces squads set out for the mission armed with night vision devices, Tavor 21 and AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, shoulder missiles, Heckler and Koch pistols, high-explosive grenades, and plastic explosives. The teams were 30 each and had specific objectives.
Civilians living near the border in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab were evacuated at 10 pm on September 27, before the Indian soldiers crossed.
These terrorist camps were meant to serve as launching pads to send terrorists into Indian territory. Sentinels on these launch pads were neutralized by snipers before the troops entered and completed the nearly five-hour operation.
The army had said that Indian soldiers toppled six launch pads and shot 45 terrorists at various locations. These launch pads were under surveillance for more than a week prior to the operation.
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