'More aggressive anti-terror operations likely in future'

IANS & Staff Reporter

New Delhi/ Guwahati, June 10: As the well-planned and surgical strike against terror camps across the India-Myanmar border sent a clear message that New Delhi will not tolerate the scourge, highly placed sources said on Wednesday that more such operations could be mounted in future if the situation warrants.

“More such attacks may take place if there are intelligence inputs of a threat (of the kind of attack June 4 in Manipur that claimed the lives of 18 Indian Army soldiers and injured many more). The forces are always ready for such operations,” a senior officer told IANS on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The army got on to collecting intelligence soon after the ambush on June 4.

According to sources, clearance for the operations came from the “highest level” and Army Chief Gen Daalbir Singh postponed a visit to Britain while tiol Security Adviser Ajit Doval cancelled plans to go to Bangladesh with the prime minister.

According to sources, elements of 21 Para (SF) of the Parachute Regiment that carried out the strike on Tuesday did not suffer any losses but caused “significant casualties” among the terrorists.

Officially, the army has not released figures for militants killed in the attack but these are estimated to be between 15 and 25.

Sources said the camps that were attacked were a few kilometers inside Myanmar border, but refused to me the exact location.

The paratroopers were flown to the target in the indigenous Dhruv advanced light helicopters.

Additiol Director General of Military Operations Maj. Gen. Ranbir Singh had said on Tuesday that the Myanmarese authorities were taken into confidence ahead of the attack.

The operation, done with surgical precision, lasted around 30 minutes each, say sources and took place between 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. on Tuesday while the surgical strike was completed within 30 minutes.

Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh, however, said there was no “hot pursuit” in the military operation against militants along the India-Myanmar border and it was done with the consent of Myanmar authorities.

“We did not use hot pursuit. We contacted Burma (Myanmar) authorities before the attack,” Rao Inderjit said here.

The comment comes a day after his colleague Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said Prime Minister rendra Modi ordered the “hot pursuit”.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, meanwhile, said the issue should not be discussed in detail. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said it was a message to all terrorists.

The Indian army’s aggressive attack on militant camps in Myanmarese territory is not the first such anywhere but is unmatched in its scale, experts have said.

“This is not the first time India launched such an attack, but it has never been on this scale,” strategic expert Brigadier SK Chatterji (retd) told IANS.

“There have been operations in Bhutan, and even along the LoC,” he said.

Meanwhile, in a press statement, the NSCN(K) said, “This desperate bogus operation never happened.”

Relations between the militant groups and the neighbouring tions have flourished in the recent years with NSCN-K signing a pact with the Myanmar government that paved the way for autonomy to the NSCN-K in Sagaing - a northwestern administrative region of Myanmar.

Khaplang, who is by birth a Burmese ga had abrogated the 15-year-old ceasefire with the Indian government in March this year. The government does not hold peace negotiations with him or his militant group because of his origin and the fact that NSCN-K camps have been set up in Myanmar.