The bravehearts belonged to 16th Battalion of the Punjab Regiment - an illustrious 'Infantry Paltan' whose name is etched in the history due to their courage and fearlessness, the spokesman said.
This was disclosed by Major General S S Jog, General Officer Commanding the Red Horn Division, during a seminar on counter terrorism organised by the Army for officers and allied personnel engaged in anti-insurgency operations in Guwahati on Wednesday.
The military delegation will be in Delhi "shortly" and confer with top Indian Army officials as well as those in the ministry of external affairs to evolve a road map for a counter-insurgency strategy, reports Nitin Gokhale.
Arunachal Pradesh, which shares its eastern boundary with the troubled region of Myanmar, and has a large number of insurgents, has become a favourite transit route and operation base for several militant outfits from neighbouring Nagaland and Assam.
As the counter-insurgency operation in the forest belt of Jammu and Kashmir's twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri entered the ninth day on Tuesday, public announcements were made in Mendhar asking local residents to stay indoors for their safety, officials said.
'Indian Army officers always lead their men into battle or combat. Pakistani officers are seldom seen at the front.'
The inquiry will focus on the "intelligence" and the "circumstances" on which Saturday's operation was based on.
The security setup along the highway is on high alertness and checkings have been intensified as a measure to foil any design of anti-national elements, they said.
The sanction by the Government of India is mandatory for intitiating legal suit against any personnel of the security forces for any action taken by them while discharging their duties under section 197(2) Cr.P.C and Section 6 of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the release said.
The sources said that insurgents opened fire from a distance at Chaljang area and security personnel returned the fire. But there were no casualties on the side of Assam Rifles. Official sources said security forces had intensified counter-insurgency operations along Khengjoi hill range, Dingpi and several villages including Chaljang since November 25 to flush out MPA insurgents.
At least four militants belonging to two rebel groups were killed in Assam in two separate encounters with security forces on Wednesday morning.
Forces were sent on information about presence of terrorists.
India hockey players Yuvraj and Devender Walmiki attend Rashtriya Rifles for their silver jubilee year celebrations in Anantnag earlier this week.
The Centreal Reserve Police Force operations, will have to acquire an intelligence-based strategy to combat Maoists who have organised themselves as a "regular fighting army", Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Wednesday.
The appointments committee of the cabinet headed by the prime minister had on October 1 issued the order for the appointment of Singh who has service till December 2024.
A security source said it was part of ULFA's strategy to mount pressure on the Army, which has put ULFA strongholds in Tinsukia district and areas adjoining the Arunachal Pradesh border under strict surveillance.
A soldier of the counter-insurgency Rashtriya Rifles was killed in an ongoing encounter with militants in the Khaimal forest area in North Kashmir's Kupwara district on Wednesday afternoon.
As a total of 97 police gallantry medals were announced by the government on the eve of the Republic day on Wednesday, more than half (about 52) have gone to those personnel who are either combating Left-wing extremists in various states or have taken on militants and insurgents in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast
With the expansion of its role in counter-insurgency opertions, the central paramilitary force has already decided to set up a dedicated intelligence apparatus to give more teeth to its operations.
Pakistan may want to undertake a 'false flag' operation in J&K to divert attention from the situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but infiltrating one SSG battalion into J&K and having two SSG battalions waiting to follow suit means war, which Pakistan cannot afford in its current economic crisis, notes Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
The award for Major Gogoi is seen as a backing of the action.
It is beyond doubt that the Indian State has gravely erred in its latest counter-insurgency operation in Chhattisgarh and has indeed ended up killing non-combatants, says Bibhu Prasad Routray
'It is time India thought big not only about its global clout politically and diplomatically, but also act its size against pin-pricking by anti national elements,' says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
'It is not just the police, but all agencies of governance that are progressively being 'captured' by the forces of Hindutva, led by the central government and by the governments of the states where the BJP has power.'
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said on Wednesday that the Maoists had been trying to set up base in Assam for the last three years to exploit the fluid situation in the insurgency-hit state, but in vain, thanks to alertness shown by the Assam police, a force with much experience in counter-insurgency operations.
"As the security forces were busy searching the area, the militants in hiding opened fire triggering a gunfight which is on. So far one militant has been killed," the officer said.
His elder brother Om Prakash Chettri, who recently retired from the Army, said Siddhant was passionate only about serving the nation.
'It is time to use the Indian military's decades-long expertise in fighting insurgency successfully,' advocates Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Two militants of Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit were killed in a fierce encounter in south Kashmir late on Thursday night, according to police.
The proscribed United Liberation Front of Assam, which is now reeling under sustained and intensified counter-insurgency operation by the Army -- especially in Eastern Assam areas and the two hill districts of the state -- has alleged that the government of India was interested in crushing the 'ULFA revolution' by using force and not at all interested in a political solution to "Assam-India" conflict.
An uptick has been noticed in the number of foreign terrorists operating in Jammu and Kashmir post the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan but the overall strength of militants in the valley is low and can be capped below 200, outgoing CRPF DG Kuldiep Singh said on Thursday.
Amidst raging debate over Jammu and Kashmir government's intention to revoke Armed Forces Special Powers Act from parts of the state, Army on Thursday made its case clear saying any such move will handicap the capability of the force to conduct counter insurgency operations.
"The search operation was launched on specific information about presence of a group of militants inside a house in the village," the officer said.
Arguing that Pakistan will remain a key player in counter terrorism post-2014, the United States has proposed $280 million in military assistance to the country, although it wants to cut civilian aid in an effort to acknowledge India's concerns about misuse of the funds.
"It traces out the causes, which lead to insurgencies and concepts of how to tackle them," he said, adding that the doctrine was unclassified and would be put soon on army website.
For the most battle-hardened, specialised and successful counter-insurgency army in the world, this is an unfamiliar, first-time experience of dealing with the north east's deepest complexities, observes Shekhar Gupta.
One policeman was killed and three securitymen were injured on Monday in a fierce gunfight with a group of holed up militants in south Kashmir's Tral in Pulwama district.
The gunfight started Friday morning after police and counter insurgency Rashtriya Rifles (RR) surrounded a house in Khrew village, nearly 20 km from Srinagar, acting on specific information. The terrorists opened fire on security forces when the latter challenged them to surrender. Two terrorists were killed in the subsequent gunfight
The security forces in Assam have decided to beef up security throughout the state after receiving intelligence inputs about militants' design to carry out attacks during Christmas and harvest festival Bihu.
Referring to the developments in Ladakh in the wake of Chinese aggression, he said disengagement with People's Liberation Army was completed from various areas in a peaceful manner and efforts are on through dialogue for disengagement from other areas.
