India hammers militants with ‘surgical strikes’
NEW DELHI — India said Thursday it carried out “surgical strikes” against militants across the highly militarized frontier that divides the Kashmir region between India and Pakistan, in an exchange that escalated tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
Pakistan dismissed the reports that India’s military had targeted “terrorist launch pads” inside the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir. Islamabad said instead that two of its soldiers were killed in “unprovoked” firing by India across the border.
Tensions, which are always simmering between India and Pakistan, spiked after an attack this month on an Indian military base in Kashmir. India accused Pakistan of sending militants belonging to the outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammed group, headquartered in Pakistan, to carry out the attack. Pakistan denied the charge.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been under heavy pressure to respond to the attack on the military base.
“Significant casualties were caused to the terrorists and those who support them,” Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh, director general of military operations for the Indian army, said in New Delhi. Singh said the operations were over, and India has no plans for more strikes. He said he shared details of the strikes with his Pakistani counterpart.
Indian soldiers traveling on foot crossed the Line of Control into the Pakistani-controlled portion to attack several targets based on intelligence about imminent attacks, said a highranking Indian official who would only brief reporters on condition of anonymity. He said the Indian forces killed at least 10 people before retreating into Indian-controlled territory. The Indian soldiers suffered no losses, he said.
The Pakistani military flatly denied any “surgical strikes” had occurred.
Pakistani officials said two of their soldiers were killed and nine others were wounded in the exchanges at five different places along the disputed border.
Kashmir is split between India and Pakistan and is claimed by both.
Most people in the Indiancontrolled portion favor independence or a merger with Pakistan. India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over control of Kashmir since winning independence from British colonialists in 1947.
India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the insurgents and pushing them into the Indian portion of Kashmir to attack government forces and other targets. Pakistan says it provides only political and diplomatic support to the insurgents, who have been fighting since 1989.