A senior Pakistan police officer has admitted thats India indeed carried out surgical strikes in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and killed at least five soldiers and several militants in an operation that Islamabad denies happened.
Ghulam Akbar, the Superintendent of Police (Special Branch) of the Mirpur Range in Paksitani Kashmir, told CNN News18 TV channel that the strikes took place at many sectors on the early hours of September 29.
CNN-News18 speaks to SP Mirpur in PoK, who confirms what Pak is denying: #SurgicalStrikes happened. Listen in.
— News18 (@CNNnews18) October 5, 2016
-reports @manojkumarguptaupta pic.twitter.com/c1hk8kHGv5
The news channel said on Wednesday that one of its journalists, Manoj Gupta, posed as Inspector General of Police Mushtaq while speaking to Akbar over telephone.
The channel aired excerpts of the conversation, quoting Akbar as saying that he personally knew about the strikes.
The Indian operation, he said, occurred at Samana in Bhimber, Hazira in Poonch, Dudhniyal in Neelam and Kayani in Hathian Bala, the border sectors on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control (LoC).
SP Mirpur confirms names of those killed in #SurgicalStrikes, says Pak armymen were killed -reports @manojkumargupta pic.twitter.com/WUCnLuXmDk
— News18 (@CNNnews18) October 5, 2016
Akbar said the Pakistan Army cordoned off all these areas immediately after the Indian incursion.
"Sir, that was night... you can say roughly 3-4 hours... between 2 a.m. and 4 or 5 a.m... The attack continued between that time.
"There were attacks on separate places... Several places were attacked... They also met (with) resistance," Akbar said.
#GlobalExclusive | SP Mirpur confirms names of those killed in #SurgicalStrikes, Listen in to the conversation. -reports @manojkumargupta pic.twitter.com/uEwqpifZmI
— News18 (@CNNnews18) October 5, 2016
The news channel said Akbar stated that the Pakistan Army was caught unawares by the Indian attack and lost five soldiers. The channel said it had the names of the slain Pakistani soldiers but didn't reveal them.
The Mirpur police officer also claimed that the bodies of an unknown number of terrorists were quickly removed by the Pakistani military and taken away in ambulances.
#EXCLUSIVE |PoK top cop Mirpur SP confirms what India has been saying all along 'Pak army has been shielding jihadis'. info @manojkumargupta pic.twitter.com/Oc9PzZdDwM
— News18 (@CNNnews18) October 5, 2016
He said the bodies many have been buried in villages.
Akbar also revealed that the Pakistani Army facilitates the movement of terrorists in forward areas and arranges for their crossing over to India, the channel said.
"The army brings them, sir... it is in their hands," Akbar said.
He said he doesn't know about the accurate number of terrorists killed because the Pakistan Army protects the jihadi infrastructure from even the local authorities and police.
The admission by the senior police officer came even as Pakistan has repeatedly trashed Indian claims that its commandos crossed the LoC and destroyed seven terror launch pads and killed an unknown number of militants.
Pakistan even took a group of local and foreign journalists to some areas near the LoC to claim that the surgical strikes never happened.
The Indian Army carried out the operation to avenge the September 18 killing of 19 Indian soldiers in a terror attack on a military base in Jammu and Kashmir.
India said the suicide attackers were from the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and infiltrated from Pakistan.
SURGICAL STRIKES VIDEO GIVEN TO PMO
As the demand for sharing evidence of the surgical strikes grew louder, Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir on Wednesday said the footage has already been handed over to the Prime Minister's Office by the Army.
The Minister said a call on making the video public rests with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"The video footage has been handed over to the government by the Army," Ahir told IANS on phone from Mumbai.
Asked if the government planned to share the video, he said: "No such decision has been taken yet, a call can only be taken by the Prime Minister."
"A nation has its own policies and one needs to practise restraint. People like Sanjay Nirupam and Arvind Kejriwal listen to Pakistan. The DGMO did the briefing and everyone in India believes it," the Minister said.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Modi, was held on Wednesday during which the situation along the Line of Control was reviewed.
Officials from the Defence Ministry, meanwhile, said there were no discussions on releasing the video.
The officials did not specify if a final stand on the issue has been taken.
Former Army Chief General J.J. Singh (retd), meanwhile, said sharing a footage will not be in national interest.
"I want to tell it loud and clear... these are secret and discreet operations which are supposed to be executed with precision, and our people are supposed to come back leaving as far as possible no evidence behind," Singh told IANS.
"In today's age, there is enough electronic equipment to track and record to tell what they have achieved, but it is not in national interest to put it in public domain. It has never been done in the past... in fact, it is not even supposed to be talked about. We must be mature enough as a country to be able to ensure that this kind of pressure is not put on the government or the army to produce videos," the former Army chief told IANS.
India has said a surgical strike was carried out during the night intervening September 28 and 29 to destroy terrorist launch pads across the LoC.
Pakistan has, however, claimed that no such attack took place.
In India, some political leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam have demanded that the government release evidence of the strike.
The situation has been tense on the India-Pakistan border since the September 18 terror attack at an army camp in Uri town of Jammu and Kashmir which left 19 soldiers dead. India blamed Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group for the attack.
Relations between the two neighbouring nations have deteriorated since the surgical strikes.
On Tuesday, Indian Army alleged that Pakistan troops opened unprovoked heavy firing in at least three places along the LoC and along the International Border in Akhnoor sector in Jammu.
MODI ASKS MINISTERS, BJP LEADERS TO REFRAIN FROM 'CHEST-THUMPING'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked his ministerial colleagues and BJP leaders to refrain from chest-thumping about the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army and said only those authorised to make public statements must speak on the issue, informed sources said.
The Prime Minister's advice comes amid criticism of the government by political parties for taking "mileage" and trying to politicise the strikes carried out by the Army on the night intervening September 28-29 to destroy terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control in Pakistan-held Kashmir.
Modi on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the cabinet and also of the Cabinet Committee on Security.
The CCS meeting was held in the wake of continued tension along the India-Pakistan border.
The situation has been tense on the India-Pakistan border since the September 18 terror attack on an army camp in Uri town of Jammu and Kashmir which left 19 soldiers dead. India has blamed Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad group for the attack.
Relations between the two neighbours further deteriorated after the surgical strikes on the night intervening September 28-29.
