Pakistan is apparently planning a major surgical strike on India. On Dec 31, two intruders were killed by the Indian Army. India had in 2016 hit several Pakistani outposts along the border in a major surgical strike

by Manjeet Singh Negi

In 2017, Pakistan had made five such surgical strike attempts along the LoC in J&K. No one was killed in the February attempt but seven intruders and two Indian soldiers were killed in the five BAT attempts in 2017.

Pakistan Army Special Forces and terrorists belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba have come together to carry out surgical strikes on Indian posts along the Line of Control (LoC).

"Small teams of Pakistan Army commandos from its Special Services Group (SSG) and Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists are active in Rajouri and Poonch sector," claimed sources in the intelligence unit.

On December 31, two intruders, who the Indian Army suspects to be Pakistani soldiers, were killed when the Army foiled a Pakistani Border Action Team (BAT) attempt to attack Indian forward posts along the LoC in Nowgam sector of north Kashmir's Kupwara district.

This was the Pakistan army's second attempt using BAT this year to push intruders into the Indian side of Jammu and Kashmir and attack forward posts, the last time being on February 23, 2018.

In 2017, it had made five such attempts along the LoC in J&K. No one was killed in the February attempt but seven intruders and two Indian soldiers were killed in the five BAT attempts in 2017.

In September 2016, India had announced that it had conducted a major operation on the LoC to avenge the killings of personnel killed in the Uri terror attack and termed it as "surgical strike".

The surgical strikes were carried out on terror launch pads across the border days after the terror attack left 20 soldiers dead in Kashmir's Uri.

In a recent interview with news agency ANI, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that it was a big risk, but it had to be done for the sake of the Indian Army.

Modi also asserted that it would be a "big mistake" to think that Pakistan will mend its ways after just "one war", referring to the 2016 surgical strike.