Hrishabh Tiwari
08/05/2021
The deadliest and pernicious ambush on the security forces in the former state of Jammu and Kashmir in September 2016 was the most inimical attack on our Armed Forces in near two decade. 4 terrorists from Pakistan occupied Kashmir crossed LoC, trekked six kilometers and launched a grenade ambush on the security personnel in the heavily guarded Army camp of Uri in Baramulla district. 19 soldiers were killed while taking on the terrorists, this attack triggered public outrage and a massive crisis between the government of India and Pakistan. This attack was not only very fatal for the forces but a direct attack on the potency and caliber of the Indian Army, it needed to be avenged and avenged in a manner that the world knows that nobody would be spared who takes on the fourth largest army in the world. PMO called on the Chiefs of three wings of the Indian Armed Forces and took cognizance of the situation while instructing them to present a plan for a "#SurgicalStrike". 70-80 soldiers from the 4-Para SF and 9-Para SF forming four teams crossed LoC and carried out the pin point attack on the terrorists, thus avenging the death of their comrades.
Uri attack on the security personnel deep inside the highly guarded camp of Army reminds of the 2002 Kaluchak Attack. On May 14, 2002 three terrorists dressed in combat uniform boarded the Himachal Tourism bus at Vijaypur near Samba, Jammu. The bus was moving from Pathankot to Jammu early morning on May 14, 2002. At about 6.15 am, the terrorists stopped the bus at Kaluchak, shot at the bus driver, the conductor and launched an ambush on the passengers. On hearing the sound of firing, the sentry guards of Army Unit located in the vicinity tried to cordon the terrorist and opened a fire at them. Terrorists trying to flee the raining fire from the securities ran towards the family quarters of the Indian Army located on the main road near Kaluchak bus station. They ran throwing grenades at the vehicles parked so the securities held back a bit, probably the moment that changed the course of the attack. The terrorists had entered the family line, what followed next would shame the humanity, terrorist opened fired at the families of Army men; toddlers, armywives, old parents were killed in a most barbaric manner. All three terrorists were later neutralized by 10 am however the void that the attack left on the lives of families of Army personnel was immense. In all 31 people-3 soldiers, 18 army family members and 10 civilians were killed in the massacre and about 47 injured including 20 soldiers, 20 family members and 15 civilians. All the terrorists were identified as Pakistani nationals aged between 18-20 years. 'How can someone fire at toddlers, civilians and innocent peoples in such a cold-blooded manner?', this question haunted 1 Para Special Forces Officer Major Mohit Sharma. This incident led him to volunteer for a mission disguised as Iftikhar Bhatt in Pakistan to kill Jaish-e-Mohammad recruiting Commanders Abu Sabzar and Abu Torara.
The Kaluchak attack was highly criticized by the whole world, the tension at the Indo-Pakistan were highest since the 1999 Kargil war; heavy artillery, infantry and weaponry were deployed at the Line of Control(LoC). Another war like situation was created, the clouds were dark, moment very sensitive, any mistake from either side would have led to one more heavy clash just 3 years after the Kargil war.
The Uri Attack
In the complete darkness of September 18, 2016, 4 clean shaved men eating fistful of almonds, making a final check of their AK-47 rifles and shoving extra ammunitions in the rucksacks marched for 1 kilometers from LoC in the dawn to reach the highly guarded premises of the Indian Army's Uri Brigade in J&K's Uri sector near LoC with a motive to kill anyone coming in the line of the rifle's barrel. These terrorists had shaved, clamped combat uniform just to blend in with rest of the Army personnel deployed at the Uri camp. This tactics of the perpetrators is nothing new in the valley, just 8 months before the Uri attack, the terrorists had managed to enter the Indian Air Force's Pathankot Base in January 2016 and kill 7 IAF personnel. The families of the bravehearts had not even mourned the death of their closed ones in Pathankot attack and this ambush followed. The terrorist had managed to enter the Uri base undetected due to the tall grass present around the Uri Brigade camp. Just before the sunrise, the sleeping Army personnel were not even awake properly, terrorists enter the sleeping tents and fired at unarmed soldiers. The Uri camp was taken by surprise, before any sense was gathered infiltrators had created a major havoc. Grenade attack shook the camp, fire and smoke clouds covered the whole Uri sector. Before being eliminated, the 4 terrorists had managed to kill 17 soldiers on the spot while 2 succumbed to injuries later in the hospital.
This attack mission was nothing new for the terrorists but what they didn't know, this ambush would change India like no other in the past two decade, Indian would go on to cross the LoC which it had resisted from half a century. The outrage from the public was cosmic, anger brandished among the 10th Battalion Dogra Regiment(10 Dogra) and 6th Battalion Bihar Regiment(6 Bihar) who had lost their comrade. Everyone wanted a revenge, the then Defence minister Manohar Parrikar, Home minister Rajnath Singh and PM Narendra Modi were very vocal about Pakistani hand in this attack but remained quite in public domain about any repercussions to Pakistan for this massacre. Pakistan was probably confident that the consequences would be just limited to public backlash and things will resume after few cold days but neither Pakistan government nor their Intelligence had any allusion of what was to follow next. An emergency meeting in the war room of the Raisina Hill followed after the attack on the Uri sector presided by PM Narendra Modi, NSA Ajit Doval, Chiefs of all three wings of Armed Forces and other Security Advisors. It was decided that India would give a brutal reply to the terrorists and their masters in Pakistan, secondly the Indian government would play its part to amplify the inaction of government in such an attack so that Pakistan remains assured of no repercussions by India. This was a big step and any mistake during the course till action would have resulted in not only more casualties but also India's image would have been tarnished globally.
"PM's statement that 'those behind Uri attack will not go unpunished', will not remain a mere statement" -Manohar Parrikar(Defence Minister 2014-2017)
Just as these events were unfolding in the national capital, a young Para Special Officer sitting 800 kms away somewhere in the Himalayas on a mission with a small team in the Siachen glacier was piqued hearing the Uri news on the radio in his barrack. The Para SF Officer Major Rohit Suri aka Mike Tango's(radio name) telephone rang and he was called back from a 2 months temporary assignment in Siachen, 48 hrs later he arrives at the Uri sector with his men.
‘We knew the balloon had gone up. This wasn’t a small incident. There was no question of sitting silent. This was beyond breaking point’ - Major Mike Tango
Major Tango had spent 10 years in J&K carrying out various missions to cordon off the terrorists but the Uri attack came like a dagger in his heart, Uri was very close to him, it was his hunting ground, he quickly joined rest of his unit waiting at the Uri Camp. The then Home minister Rajnath Singh had cancelled his Russia trip to chair a top level meeting and PM Narendra Modi presided another meeting with NSA at PMO giving green signal to carry out a ground attack on the terrorists beyond the Line of Control. Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag arrived in Srinagar to convey the political directives to the Commanding Officers of Para SF units. The soldiers of the SF although eagerly waiting for a positive news to go forward but had only dreamt of such an order to be passed; never in near decade has such a directive and political motive been seen. Excitement and ferocity rushed in the veins of 4 Para SF and 9 Para SF team who were tasked to carry out the attack; the Surgical Strike was on!
The plan of action
Commanding Officers of the two Para SF units started to draw a plan for the biggest cross border mission taking in account the intelligence inputs from RAW(Research & Analysis Wing) and ISRO to attack with pin point accuracy and maximum damage to the antagonists. Major Mike Tango soon arrived at Srinagar, he was about to lead the team of 70-80 soldiers of the PARA SF. The GOC-in-C(General Officer Commanding-in-Chief) of the Northern Command of the Indian Army Lt Gen Deependra Singh Hooda gave a detailed view about the mission to the Raisina Hill's war room and the PMO through encrypted channels.
"We just needed clearance. In the SF, we are war-ready at all times. When we are not in operations, we are preparing for them. There’s a purpose behind everything we do" -Major Mike Tango
Lt Gen Bipin Rawat(now Chief of Defence Staff) was thoroughly involved in the proceedings, Uri was very close to him, as a young captain he was posted in Uri with the Gorkha Rifles in 1980s. His years of military experience in the Kashmir Valley was about to be very handy in planning the classified mission. The top officers of Intelligence Bureau(IB), RAW and Indian Army planned every possible minute details pre-hand even the casualties during various parts of the Surgical Strike was taken in account. Major Mike Tango had received a posting out of J&K, for him it was situation where he could have said 'no' from going in, jokingly this is known as "posted out, not interested"(PONI) but it was never an option for Major, he is from the elite Para SF who lives by the adage, "Men apart every man an emperor".
‘I was given the option to either stay back and monitor the operation, or lead the operation and go in. It didn’t take me a moment to decide’ -Major Mike Tango
On September 20, 2016 Major Tango started to move towards the LoC, a 70 km journey from Srinagar overnight in the Army Vehicles and the small team reached Baramulla. The rest of the SF teams arrived in Kupwara, Uri and Rajouri sectors and were told to wait for further orders, the mission was so secretive that the mission details were not in sync within the team itself. Any movement of the Special Forces towards the LoC rings an alarm across the border, the presence of Para SF is very distinct and marks a great deal.
"When SF men get close to the LoC, alarm bells ring on the other side, No matter how much you try to mask your arrival, there’s something about SF soldiers. They just know." -Major Tango
Airlifting the SF soldiers via chopper across the LoC was never an option since the echo of the chopper's blade would alert the Pakistani Rangers. The undulating terrain, unfamiliar paths, steep climbs were always going to be a challenge for the team. The soldiers waited for further orders at three launch pads i.e. Kupwara, Uri and Rajouri. The soldiers from the 6 Bihar and 10 Dogra were also included to elaborate the revenge mission and a Ghatak Platoon(shock troop) was formed. It was also a good move since the soldiers posted at Uri sector were much more familiar with the terrain of the LoC. The wait was getting long, 4 days since the deployment they hadn't received any further orders but they remained calm and followed minimal movement since they were close to the Pakistani posts and being detected could ruin the whole mission that every SF soldier had waited for. Major Tango and team were not informed of the precise targets yet, meanwhile External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj spoke at UN's General Assembly, the tone of the speech was kept subdued so as to not give any clue of anger to Pakistan. On September 26, 6 days after deployment Major Tango was intuitive on arrival of further orders, his intuition was right and the order to be ready and on standby finally came. The 4 targets across the LoC that were operated by Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI and protected by Pakistani army were identified for the strike.
An operational standby for the team meant that the orders for the go-ahead could come at any point, the team started to gather any ground information available about the 4 terrorist targets that was planned to be attacked. 4 sources(2 villagers from PoK and 2 Pak nationals) from the other side of the border confirmed and gave real time information about the targets. Meanwhile the Pakistani posts along LoC were not on high alert, they had loosened up that suggested they were not aware of the ghastly attack coming their way. Before the final go, the team checked their equipment's-M4A1 rifles, snipers, Israeli Travor TAR-21, C-90, grenades, rocket launchers and night visions. Now the only concern for Team Leader Major Mike Tango was the return, while returning the backside of the soldiers would be facing the raining fire from Pak Army and that's the point when team would be most vulnerable and possibly could suffer casualties. Major had a big responsibility on his shoulders to bring back every man of the team alive if not completely safe, he went back to every chapter of his training to bring in a better strategy for return after the strike. Also the two targets that his team had to attack were well inside the LoC and roughly 500 meters from each other, other two target were given to other two teams; one target each. These targets were very close to the Pakistani Army posts, another hinderance that SF soldiers had to overcome. On September 27, the final call was given for the most secretive mission of Indian Army ever. Major Tango made a final call to his Commanding Officer at Srinagar base, radio devices turned off, war mode on, satellite hand-held checked, the soldier of the Para SF march towards the LoC to hold high the pride of the nation, to avenge the death of their comrade, to kill every knave terrorist.
The Venture
At 2030 hours, late in the evening of September 27, 2016 the SF teams set on their venture, walking for 4 hours through a rough terrain, they reached one of the most dangerous places on the planet; the LoC. A sighting by the Pakistani Rangers would mean that the SF troops would have to engage into a fire-fight, the Pak Rangers patrolling on a higher elevation might have an advantage. Thus the SF teams carefully crossed the LoC, 25 minutes after rolling out from the launch pads. Pakistan on the other hand started to fire the illuminating rounds along the border areas as they usually do, SF teams could have easily been detected in the light up areas hence they took shelter for about 20 minutes. After the Pakistani stopped the firings, the team moved forward. Just 400 meters from the target, Major Tango split his teams, 8-10 soldiers followed Major Tango while the other teams rolled out towards their targets. Just as Major Tango started his movement, they had to suddenly die down on their bellies as firing sound from the terrorist camps echoed. It may have been a speculative fire as the sound soon disappeared in the mountains, it was one way a bad news too. The Pakistan Army has a long chain of undercover informers through which they enjoy all the insider news happening in the valley, possibly they were informed about the SF arrival too. The SF teams had to be more cautious as the terrorist camps would have guarded up after the news of their arrival close to LoC just few days back. Major Tango had a tough decision to make, either to go forward with the assault or wait for another day and study the targets before ambushing. He knew the lives of his buddies was dependent on his one decision, he crawled back to his team and slowly hushed to them that, 'we will stay down the whole night, following day and only attack after tomorrow's sunset'.
It was a bold decision to remain after sunrise in a hostile territory, after being spotted in such a situation would mean, no going back without a red-blooded gun-fight. The news was relayed to other teams via satellite hand-held, staying back meant no sleep for the boys in the forest, night visions on and gazing towards the terrorist camp, slightest of the movements caught on the night vision goggles was kept in loop with other teams. Tough mission got tougher but that's when the Special Forces rise to the task, all the 'war-ready' training were coming handy in the 24 hr halt. The following day they received satellite images from Delhi stating no change in position of the terrorists or the Pak Rangers, hence no modification in plan was needed. The SF teams however couldn't gather any real-time information as it would have been very dangerous to send troop on a reconnaissance task. Died down they spent their whole day taking shelter beside rocks and bushes.
After 24 hrs, Major Tango and his men rose from the ashes once again with much more energy and vengeance to begin the deathblow. Crawling towards the target Major Tango reached one of the launch pads of the terrorists, other teams were taking on their respective targets. 50 meters from the entry, night vision goggles gazed at two guards with their AK-47 rifles, this was the moment that finest commandos of SF were waiting for, the tension and wary would soon disappear as the bullets would start to fly. 2 Commandos sniped at the guards making it possible for the crawling Maj Tango and team to enter the camp unchallenged. SF men entered and rained fire at the terrorists, with almost every bullet finding its target, रुद्ररूप(mightiest of the mighty) commandos had only one thing in mind; शत्रुजीत
The terrorists were also trained like soldiers, they resembled the tactics and strategy tasked by infiltrators of 26/11. Terrorists would be in one position a second and occupy another position, the other second. But Major Tango and his M4A1 carbine was in no mood to entertain anyone, the firing lasted for about an hour and whole of the area was perfectly clear although pile of bodies of terrorists lied on the floor. Good news relayed on the satellite kit from other teams too, the task was half done! A total of about 35-40 terrorists and 2 Pak Army personnel were killed at all 4 targets, but now came the hard part that kept Major Tango overthinking all time, the time for de-induction.
The Pakistani Army posts along the border were alarmed, they were infuriating after the intrusion and ambush from the Indian soldiers, the Pak Army would now do anything to stop the Indian soldiers from going back across LoC. Major Tango had two choices, either to go back taking the familiar route from where they came and face the fire from Pak Army posts or take a longer circuited route but 'a bit' safer. He made the call to take the longer path but the Pak Army posts opened fire at the commandos although the precision of the fire wasn't great but it got better as they tracked the path of returning Indian SF commandos.
"At one point, the bullets were so close, they were whistling past our ears. There’s a familiar 'put-put' sound when rounds fly very close to your head. If I were a foot taller, I would have been hit many times over." -Major Tango
Lying flat on their bellies, taking shelter beside trees SF teams led by Major Mike Tango moved forward, although now very close to crossing LoC, the 7.62mm rifle bullets were still in range. At about 4 am in the morning the team finally reached the Uri Sector. Major Tango made a success call to 15 Corps(Chinar Corps) Commander Lt Gen Satish Dua, very short and briefly General was informed about the safe and sound return of the boys. Choppers were sent to Uri to pick up the SF commandos coming back after 36 hours of a dreading mission that has changed the way Indian Army and Armed Forces are looked upon globally. Lt Gen Satish Dua was the whole and sole of this Surgical Strike, being the Commander of the Srinagar based 15 Corps, the whole Kashmir Valley was under his watch and if someone was most hurt by Uri attack, it was him. As Major Tango was moving towards the helipad to get into Cheetah helicopter, a sniper took a shot at him although the near miss didn't hit him, a dog nearby perished to the shot by Pakistani Sniper. Major Tango and team rushed and flew back to Srinagar to meet his CO Lt Gen Satish Dua waiting impatiently for his arrival, both hugged each other and General ordered a bottle of Black Label to celebrate the moment.
Apart from an injury to a commando by land mine blast during the return, there was no other casualty to the SF teams, Major Tango had kept his words to bring back every men 'safe and sound'. PM Narendra Modi sitting in the war room was informed about the success of the Surgical Strike. Around 8-10 casualties was foresighted while planning the attack but the ambush was clean operated and no casualties were taken. The 4-Para and 9-Para Special Force's already very strong reputation had reached a zenith after the success of Surgical Strike. The SF men success was celebrated nationwide, the joy and sense of pride they had brought to the faces of every Indian is beyond comparison.
The news rallied on all the news channels globally about the September 28 India's Surgical Strike to avenge the Pathankot and Uri attack. The bold move by the Indian Army and Gov of India sent a sense of satisfaction in hearts of every Indian, who were saddened by the Uri Attack on soldiers. In January 2017, SF teams were awarded with 5 Shaurya Chakra, 13 Sena Medal and CO of two Para SF units were honoured with Yudh Seva Medal. Major Mike Tango was himself honoured with the highest decoration among the team with Kirti Chakra. His ceremony in the Rashtrapati Bhavan was kept subdued by Army because after the Surgical Strikes, he had become a "Person of Interest" by Pakistani Army as well as ISI backed terrorists. Major Mike Tango's identity may not be that secretive anymore but as he himself says, "In the Special Forces, we don't really know fear". After the Surgical Strike, the SF boys would once again vanish in the dark, only to return when the duty calls....
Sources: PIB, PTI, Extracts from India's Most Fearless; book by Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh