'Every Soldier Had To Return Home After Surgical Strikes'

'On two feet or on somebody's back, every soldier had to return.'

"The greatest concern was that if some soldiers were injured or killed and left behind, it would have been a national embarrassment. Fortunately, all teams returned safely," remembers Lieutenant General D S Hooda, the highest-ranking military officer in the Northern Command responsible for planning and executing the surgical strikes on multiple terror camps across the Line of Control in September 2016.

"The Line of Control is perhaps the most heavily guarded border in the world. The terrorist camps were behind the main Pakistani defence line. These defences had to be crossed twice, while going in and returning.

"The return after striking the camps was particularly challenging, as by this time the Pakistani troops would have been alerted that some operation had taken place in their rear. And this was happening at multiple places across both Jammu and Kashmir regions,' the general tells Rediff's Archana Masih.

You have been a part of so many operations throughout your career serving on the northern and eastern borders, where do the surgical strikes appear on your list of military achievements?
What distinguished this operation from the many others conducted by you and under your command?

I do rate the surgical strikes highly, but I would not define it simply as my achievement. There were many who contributed to the success of the operation in the planning and execution.

The real burden of whether we succeed or fail was carried by the officers and soldiers who went across the Line of Control, struck the terror camps and returned safely.

I think what was different in this operation was that the implications extended beyond just the military impact. The government had decided to announce that a cross-border operation had been conducted in response to Pakistan's terror activities.

After the terror attack on the Uri garrison, many questions were being publicly asked on how we would respond. Therefore, there was this added pressure that the operation must succeed, despite all the risks associated with it.

What was the most difficult part of the operation? What was your greatest concern? What is the worst thing that could have gone wrong?

You are aware that the Line of Control is perhaps the most heavily guarded border in the world. The terrorist camps were behind the main Pakistani defence line. These defences had to be crossed twice, while going in and returning.

The return after striking the camps was particularly challenging, as by this time the Pakistani troops would have been alerted that some operation had taken place in their rear. And this was happening at multiple places across both Jammu and Kashmir regions.

The greatest concern was that every soldier must return to our own side. If some soldiers were injured or killed and left behind, it would have been a national embarrassment.

So the instructions were clear -- everyone comes back, either on your two feet or on somebody's back. There were also plans to send additional troops across the Line of Control to help any team that could find itself in difficulty while returning.

Fortunately, all teams returned safely.

Were you in the Northern Command HQ in Udhampur when the op was happening? Were you watching it live on a screen throughout?

We had UAVs up in the air over the target area to beam live images to the HQ in Udhampur.

In the Jammu region, the weather had turned bad, and the UAV was unable to pick up anything. However, we were able to observe the two targets across the Kashmir region. And therefore, we could see when the attacks commenced on these camps.

Let me say here though that there was not a single instruction passed from my HQ to the teams during the complete operation. Soldiers on the ground are better equipped to deal with the situation facing them, than a commander sitting hundreds of miles away in his HQ.

Who were the officers watching along with you? How many people in Delhi, apart from the army chief, defence minister and prime minister knew about this op?

In my HQ, there were only six officers who were watching the UAV feed that night. Even in Delhi, the information was restricted to a few officers in the Military Operations Directorate, the Vice Chief and the Army Chief.

The National Security Advisor, the Defence Minister, and the Prime Minister were obviously in the know and the final approval was given by the Prime Minister.

At what lengths did you go to ensure that this op remains a secret and more importantly, how did you all manage to keep it under wraps?

Secrecy was of paramount importance. Very few people in my HQ were involved in the planning for the event. Of course, the team commanders, young Majors, who had to go across the Line of Control, had to be a part of the planning. So, it was a very mixed group of officers, from 40 years of service to 4 years. But all were conscious of secrecy.

We deliberately did not give a codename for the operation. Information was strictly restricted on the need-to-know basis. Once the approval was received from Delhi, all the teams moved quietly into positions and slipped across the Line of Control.

In fact, when the DGMO announced on 29 September morning that the surgical strikes had been carried out, most of my HQ staff at Udhampur was taken completely by surprise.

How did you celebrate the success of the mission after it was completed? When did you meet the officers and men who had done the op across the LoC? What are some of the things you all said to each other when you met the team after the mission?

The teams that returned were spread across 200 km, and we could not quickly get them all together. However, we sent helicopters to bring all the officers who had participated in the operation to Udhampur.

We all gathered in my house for a drink. There were congratulations all around on a job well done. There was not so much a sense of triumph as a feeling of professionalism about a task brilliantly executed. And a confidence among the young officers that we can rise to any challenge.

What are some of the lesser-known things or small, little and important points about the surgical strikes that we may not of? Can you share some of those things?

So many small things. An officer who was injured when a branch of a tree went right through his cheek during a reconnaissance for the operation. He refused to be treated at a hospital and participated in the operation.

A young officer whose birthday was on 29 September, and the soldiers wished him a loud happy birthday just before they started the attack on the terrorist camp.

This reflects the confidence and morale of the soldiers who were part of the operation.

And frankly, it was this faith in our soldiers that prompted us to make a somewhat ambitious plan of striking multiple terrorist camps on the same night.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff