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Eyewitnesses living across the Line of Control (LoC) have provided accounts claiming that bodies were carted off on trucks after the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army on 29 September, according to a report by The Indian Express.
On 29 September 2016, Indian Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh confirmed the Army’s policy of surgical strikes across the LoC against terrorists and their camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. The DGMO informed media that the Army had carried out surgical strikes across the LoC on the night of 28-29 September.
According to the report, the witnesses added that the bodies were taken away for secret burial following the firing, which destroyed make-shift bases of jihadists.
The Indian Express contacted five witness and is withholding their identities for safety reasons. Though the Indian Army has yet not given a number of people who died in the attacks, the witnesses said they saw five-six bodies being put in a trick.
Another witness noted:
The Lashkar men gathered there were blaming the Pakistani Army for failing to defend the border and saying they would soon give India an answer it would never forget.
The Indian Express said that according to their sources, the Lashkar and other jihadist groups were caught unawares by the strike.
This new account seems to confirm the strikes – a topic of international debate as several media reports questioned their existence.
The operations, which came in the wake of the Uri terror attack that led to the death of 20 soldiers, were “carried out based on specific and credible information,” according to DGMO Lt General Ranbir Singh. The international media, however, is considering the possibility that these operations never took place.
(With inputs from The Indian Express.)
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