One year of surgical strike: Reasons behind Army conducting operation along LoC

The Indian Army conducted surgical strike along LoC in the early morning hours of September 29, 2016. It’s been one year of that glorious operation which dismantled terror launch pads along the LoC. The brave soldiers pioneered clinical surgical strike where there were no casualties on Indian side whereas almost 40 terrorists were gunned down. It was out and out a successful operation. 

Now, one year down the line, let us recall the reasons which forced the Indian Army to take this brave move: 

# Uri attack: On September 18, four terrorists executed one of the worst terrorist attacks on the Indian Army. On that horrific day, the terrorists killed 19 soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri in the rear office of Indian Army infantry installation. The attackers were believed to have come from Pakistan. Since the attack, Indian authorities had escalated the matter against Pakistan in international fraternity. The Indian Army took to surgical strikes to avenge the deaths of soldiers in Uri attack. 

# Repeated terror strikes in India: Though there had been repeated terror attacks across India, Pakistan had never felt the need to act against terrorists operating from their soil. India has shared details about the terrorists originating from Pakistani soil but the neighboring country never acted against them. Rather, they supported the terror camps operating in their territory. The major terrorist attacks in India included 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Mumbai serial bomb blast, attack on Akshardham Temple in Ahmedabad, Delhi serial bomb blast, Bombay train blasts, attack on Indian Parliament, Pathankot Air Base attack, Uri attack.

Read more: Surgical Strikes Anniversary: How Indian army avenged Uri attack

# Increased infiltration from Pakistan: The infiltration had increased significantly since the time India had taken the matter internationally. Indian diplomats had been successful in isolating Pakistan on various platforms. Irked by the continuous isolation of Pakistan, the country had increased infiltration from their soil and also upped the export of terrorists to India. Seeing this problem, Indian Army decided to counter the terror the camps operating from Pakistani soil. Indian Army inflicted great damage to the future prospects of infiltration across LoC. 

# Pakistan’s support to terrorism: There had been reports where it was claimed that Pakistani Army personnel were literally sitting in terror launch pads near the LoC. As per reports, at least 17 terror camps were operating in PoK with intent to push terror into India. Pakistan-run terror camps in PoK meant Pakistan-sponsored terror on Indian territory. When India sensed inaction from Pakistan, India decided to tackle the problem by own and launched surgical strikes along LoC to kill terrorists and dismantle terror camps. 

# Islamabad’s indifference towards terrorist activities: India had been continuously and relentlessly urging Islamabad to take action against the terrorist organizations as they were a threat to security in India. India had proactively shared all the intelligence reports against the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks in India. But, Islamabad’s approach had been to shield them from any action.