Army’s strike on terrorists in Myanmar not the first for Indian security forces

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NEW DELHI: The Indian Army on Wednesday carried out a massive retaliatory strike on Naga terrorists who were on Myanmarese territory. The Army’s Eastern Command has said it inflicted heavy casualties on the terrorists and suffered none in the process.

The Army categorically said it carried out the strike across the international border with Myanmar without crossing the line. This was hardly a first for the Indian Army. 

Here are some other instances in the recent past when the Army carried out operations across borders:

Operation Arjun
This is an ongoing counter-offensive operation against Pakistan by the Border Security Force (BSF). It is aimed at destroying or damaging installations on the Pakistani side that are used to support either infiltration bids or ceasefire violations.

Operation Arjun was begun by the BSF as a response to the recent spate of unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Pakistan Rangers. The BSF has said it is using small, medium and area weapons to focus attacks on farms and residences of retired Pakistani military officers. The retired officers have reportedly been given property along the international border to aid operations against India.

The operation is part of an Indian doctrine of not initiating ceasefire violations along the international border or the LoC, but retaliating with crushing force to unprovoked firing from the Pakistani side.

Pakistan Rangers has reportedly reached out to the BSF in an attempt to end the firing. But operations continue.

Operation Rustam
This was an operation that was carried out by Indian security forces in the aftermath of the 2016 surgical strikes. Pakistani forces opened unprovoked fire on the Indian side at many places. Security personnel responded in force, damaging Pakistani military installations and inflicting casualties on military personnel and terrorists.

This led to a cessation of cross-border and cross-LoC firing for a while.

2016 surgical strikes against terrorist camps in Pakistan
Indian forces launched surgical strikes against terrorist staging camps attached to Pakistani military facilities on September 29. The attacks saw Indian forces penetrate into territory across the Line of Control. The strike is considered significant as Indian forces were ordered to take care not cross the LoC even during the 1999 Kargil conflict.

The Army claimed the surgical strikes had inflicted heavy damage to terrorism-support infrastructure on the other side of the LoC.

The surgical strikes had come 11 days after terrorists from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir attacked an Army camp in Uri, leading to the death of 19 Indian soldiers.

2015 surgical strikes into Myanmar
Indian special forces carried out multiple strikes to destroy two camps used by Naga terrorists. The camps were across the international boundary, in Myanmar. The operations were carried out with the cooperation of the Myanmar military.

The Army said the strikes had destroyed both the terrorist camps, and resulted in the deaths of 158 terrorists.

The operation had come a week after Naga terrorists ambushed an Indian Army patrol in Manipur, resulting in the deaths of 18 Indian soldiers.