82 terrorists killed in ‘surgical strike’ : Lt Gen (Retd.) RR Nimbhorkar

Lieutenant General (retd.) Rajendra Ramrao Nimbhorkar tells

(Surgical Strike refers to a sudden incursion into the enemy’s border with a few soldiers and returning after raiding terrorist/military bases)

New Delhi – ‘Jihadi terrorists had attacked an army base in Uri, Kashmir, in 2016. Some of the soldiers were killed in this attack. In a bid to avenge this, India had carried out a surgical strike on the bases of jihadi terrorists in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. 82 jihadi terrorists were killed in this operation on 29th September 2016’, Lieutenant General (retd.) Rajendra Ramrao Nimbhorkar, the head of this operation, said in an interview with a Hindi daily. Nimbhorkar added that not a single Indian soldier was injured in this operation. The then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had approved this operation.

Detailed information about the operation was given by Nimbhorkar !

1. Action was to be taken before the first namaz of the day !

We planned the operation for 28th-29th September. The time between 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. of Amavasya was chosen. We practice secularism in the military, but the terrorists who were to be dealt with were all Muslims. Their first namaz was to be offered around 4 a.m. We had planned the action to be taken before that.

2. Political will is necessary for such operations !

Only 17 people in India knew about it including the Prime Minister and me. Even Major Generals did not know this. Interestingly, we got the required weapons and equipment within 6 days. Excellent rifles, night vision cameras, and good radio sets were provided. I believe that if India had the best defence minister in history, it was Manohar Parrikar. Because what is needed most is political will, which was there at that time. Had we taken such a decision after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, perhaps the result would have been the same and no further attacks would have happened, because after the surgical strike, the attacks became less.

3. 35 of our soldiers were a part of this operation.

It is a principle of the Indian Army that if a soldier is killed or wounded, we do not leave them in enemy territory. Men are needed to bring back such soldiers from within 900 meters of the Pakistani border. So, 35 people were deployed. It took us two and a half to three hours to cover every 100 meters as landmines were planted there.

4. Terrorists were eliminated within 10 minutes by slitting their throats !

On reaching the base, the soldiers slit the throats of all the terrorists. We acted in just 10 minutes. It was filmed with a thermal camera. The soldiers had started retreating by the 12th minute. They returned at 5 a.m. No soldier was injured. 28 to 30 dead bodies were visible in the footage. We had killed a total of 82 terrorists. The biggest achievement for us was that none of our soldiers were hurt.

5. If the Indian economy becomes strong, we can contain China !

Lieutenant General (retd.) Rajendra Ramrao Nimbhorkar said that first of all let us see who our enemy is. Our power is much more than Pakistan. We need not fear Pakistan. China is the enemy in the north. It has to be taken care of. We confronted them for 34 days in Doklam. China has realised our potential. China’s geography is such that it has to come to the Indian border through Tibet. We can stop it. Big armies need money. If our economy grows, the Air Force will have 50 squadrons. There is no one to stop us now. China knows this. If there is a war with China, they will suffer just as much as us. For that, we need to be financially capable.