In first week of May, local shepherds noticed unusual movements near the mountains and they informed the Army. They found the presence of infiltrators who captured the peaks. Firstly they thought those were militants or terrorists belonging to jihadi outfits operating outside Pakistan. Later they recovered identification tags and diaries from the bodies of intruders. After which they realized, those intruders were actually Pakistani Army people. But Pakistani Army denied being involved in that. Those Pakistani soldiers were later buried by Indian troops near the sites. When the conflict was at peak, a bombshell tape exposed the lies of Pakistani Army. On the battlefields of Kargil Indian army slowly ramped up and recaptured the peaks. Kargil witnessed intense fighting. The turning point was when Indian army recaptured Tololing Peak, which overlooked the Srinagar-Leh highway (via Kargil). The Tololing Peak was recaptured by Indian Army on 13 June 1999. \In this fight Indian Air force and Indian navy also helped. The IAF was bombing enemy positions at heights. Navy launched patrols in Arabian Sea and made plans to block Pakistani ports. The Kargil conflict continued for next couple of weeks as Indian troops were occupying heights cleared by Pakistani intruders. By July 26 all the heights and peaks were recaptured and the war came to an end.
Note: The Kargil War was not actually a "war". India never declared an emergency and never classified it as a war. At the height of the conflict, then PM Atal Bihari Vajayee said the situation in Kargil was "war-like". But, Kargil always remained a "limited conflict", which is why the Indian military was ordered not to cross the Line of Control and why the situation along the International Border in Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat remained peaceful.
Comments
Post a Comment