relent; it was almost five in the evening. If the terrorists had rested in the day they would start moving in a few hours. Time was scarce.
Finally Asim relented, “LET men. My job was to give them some Indian money and some ready-made food. They were 20 men, all armed; more than half of them were from the local LET units. They have a camp in the mountains … resting now … will move once darkness falls.” He suddenly seemed to withdraw; all the blood had drained from his face. He realised that he had just betrayed a cause he had sworn to protect all his life. Warm bile rose from his stomach into his throat.
“
Where
in the fucking mountains, Asim?” Vijay asked menacingly and fingered his 9mm. A policeman on the side smacked Asim’s arm with a cane and that got his immediate attention. “
Where
Asim?”
Asim finally answered hoarsely, “Up, up the Sheraz hills; they have a camp near the rocky overhang. I know that, they always do that, can’t be seen from the air,” he gestured for water.
Vijay had one final question. He picked up the bottled water, “Whose men are they, the locals?”
“Wasim Khan! Wasim Khan…” he spluttered as he reached for the bottle of water Vijay held.
“It’s 30 minutes away from the road head near the Baramulla border. If we leave now, we should make contact by 2130 hours.QRT is ready,” exclaimed Ankush to his CO as Vijay completed his update.
“Agree, you take a team and head from the west, Delta Company has a patrol out, we will redirect them towards west to cut off escape towards LOC. I will update the Kilo force HQ about the operation,” he said referring to the RR force headquarters which was responsible for Kupwara area.
Kupwara-Baramulla district border: 2200 hours
All Indian infantry units in operational area maintain a quick reaction force on a 24 hours standby. The RR units also maintained this tradition. Usually a platoon level force with fully armed and ready men, it could swing into action in less than an hour. It usually had men with light arms like AK-47s or the newer Tavor rifles, a machine gun and a mortar section besides the popular Carl Gustav rocket launcher. It is usually called a ‘Ghatak’ or ‘Attack’ platoon. This was the force that was mobilised for raiding the camp as per the intelligence yielded from Asim. As the Ghatak platoon closed in, the scouts reported that the militants seemed to be preparing to abandon camp. Ankush waited for the Delta Company to come into position while his platoon slowly closed in on the camp. At the stroke of the hour, the sky lit up with flares as the jawans (a term popularly used for soldiers in India and Pakistan) roared into attack with the Maratha war cry reverberating through the mountainside, “Bol Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Ki Jai!”(Victory to King Shivaji!). The militants tried to hold defensive positions. The heavy machine gun added a steady din as tracer bullets marked out the militant positions. The militants fired back with the rocket-propelled grenades to break-off the attack. The night-shattering chatter of AK-47 rifles and Tavors along with the ‘whoosh’ and explosive thumps of the RPGs and the Carl Gustavs filled theair as both sides tried to grab an early advantage and deny the opposition a foothold.
Ankush was in no hurry. After his team had grabbed a few key positions overlooking the ridge, he cautioned his men against doing anything reckless. Time was on their side. Delta Company was slowly closing in from the west, tightening the noose. The northern side was an 80-feet drop into a gorge. The only open side was on the east, deeper into the Indian territory and more friendly forces; he had just been informed on the radio that an SOG unit of Jammu & Kashmir police was closing in from that direction.
Wasim Khan, the senior-most militant and the local commander of the LET realised the same thing and deduced that they had little time before they were boxed in from all directions. He
Finally Asim relented, “LET men. My job was to give them some Indian money and some ready-made food. They were 20 men, all armed; more than half of them were from the local LET units. They have a camp in the mountains … resting now … will move once darkness falls.” He suddenly seemed to withdraw; all the blood had drained from his face. He realised that he had just betrayed a cause he had sworn to protect all his life. Warm bile rose from his stomach into his throat.
“
Where
in the fucking mountains, Asim?” Vijay asked menacingly and fingered his 9mm. A policeman on the side smacked Asim’s arm with a cane and that got his immediate attention. “
Where
Asim?”
Asim finally answered hoarsely, “Up, up the Sheraz hills; they have a camp near the rocky overhang. I know that, they always do that, can’t be seen from the air,” he gestured for water.
Vijay had one final question. He picked up the bottled water, “Whose men are they, the locals?”
“Wasim Khan! Wasim Khan…” he spluttered as he reached for the bottle of water Vijay held.
“It’s 30 minutes away from the road head near the Baramulla border. If we leave now, we should make contact by 2130 hours.QRT is ready,” exclaimed Ankush to his CO as Vijay completed his update.
“Agree, you take a team and head from the west, Delta Company has a patrol out, we will redirect them towards west to cut off escape towards LOC. I will update the Kilo force HQ about the operation,” he said referring to the RR force headquarters which was responsible for Kupwara area.
Kupwara-Baramulla district border: 2200 hours
All Indian infantry units in operational area maintain a quick reaction force on a 24 hours standby. The RR units also maintained this tradition. Usually a platoon level force with fully armed and ready men, it could swing into action in less than an hour. It usually had men with light arms like AK-47s or the newer Tavor rifles, a machine gun and a mortar section besides the popular Carl Gustav rocket launcher. It is usually called a ‘Ghatak’ or ‘Attack’ platoon. This was the force that was mobilised for raiding the camp as per the intelligence yielded from Asim. As the Ghatak platoon closed in, the scouts reported that the militants seemed to be preparing to abandon camp. Ankush waited for the Delta Company to come into position while his platoon slowly closed in on the camp. At the stroke of the hour, the sky lit up with flares as the jawans (a term popularly used for soldiers in India and Pakistan) roared into attack with the Maratha war cry reverberating through the mountainside, “Bol Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Ki Jai!”(Victory to King Shivaji!). The militants tried to hold defensive positions. The heavy machine gun added a steady din as tracer bullets marked out the militant positions. The militants fired back with the rocket-propelled grenades to break-off the attack. The night-shattering chatter of AK-47 rifles and Tavors along with the ‘whoosh’ and explosive thumps of the RPGs and the Carl Gustavs filled theair as both sides tried to grab an early advantage and deny the opposition a foothold.
Ankush was in no hurry. After his team had grabbed a few key positions overlooking the ridge, he cautioned his men against doing anything reckless. Time was on their side. Delta Company was slowly closing in from the west, tightening the noose. The northern side was an 80-feet drop into a gorge. The only open side was on the east, deeper into the Indian territory and more friendly forces; he had just been informed on the radio that an SOG unit of Jammu & Kashmir police was closing in from that direction.
Wasim Khan, the senior-most militant and the local commander of the LET realised the same thing and deduced that they had little time before they were boxed in from all directions. He
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