US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Indian Army recaptures Tiger Hill

The long-awaited turning point in the Kargil operations came today as the 18 Grenadiers recaptured the strategic Tiger Hill in the Drass sub-sector after a fierce night-long battle with Pakistani soldiers who were using the mountain top to dominate the critical Srinagar-Leh highway.

The victory is crucial as it will help the Indian troops to evict the intruders from other positions in the sub-sector and keep the highway free from Pakistani artillery fire.

"The Indian flag is right on top," army spokesman Colonel Bikram Singh said as he announced the success of the biggest and most important operation of the Indian Army in the current conflict.

President K R Narayanan hailed the recapture of Tiger Hill and said it was a moment of great pride and satisfaction for the entire nation.

"We applaud the unparalleled bravery, perseverance and commitment of our soldiers -- young officers and jawans -- who have made this achievement possible," the President said.

Defence Minister George Fernandes and army chief General V P Malik also congratulated the armed forces for the triumph.

"The attack was launched along three unexpected approaches, which completely surprised the enemy. As per last reports received, mopping-up operations are in progress," Colonel Singh said.

Elaborating, he said, "We have got the top, but in the periphery pockets of intrusion are still there. The mopping-up operations are to evict them."

In other operations in the Batalik and Drass sub-sectors in the last 24 hours, one officer, Captain M K Pandey of 11 Gorkha Rifles, and 11 soldiers were killed, taking the toll on the Indian side to 252. But a large number of casualties were inflicted on the Pakistani side, which are still being assessed.

Asked whether National Highway 1A is now completely safe, Colonel Singh said at certain places enemy observation posts are still in place, but these will be cleared soon.

He said Tiger Hill would be the turning point of the conflict that began on May 8 as it would facilitate eviction of the Pakistani intruders and terrorists from other areas.

"There is euphoria about it being captured as it was the most significant position held by the enemy," he said.

The 18 Grenadiers won a citation from the chief of army staff for their exceptionally gallant and sterling performance and also for the recapture of the Tololing ridgeline on the night of May 27-28, Point 4590 on June 11-12, and Three Pimples on June 28-29.

The Indian Air Force also, rightly, took credit for the victory at Tiger Hill.

The IAF had carried out some devastating strikes on two enemy camps located on top of the hill, which severely degraded the capability of the intruders to sustain their forces there.

Just a couple of days ago, the IAF again devastated an enemy supply camp just 2.5km west of Tiger Hill, Group Captain D N Ganesh, joint director of air operations, said at the briefing.

He said one of the key factors of air operations in the mountains was that the effect of relentless air strikes took time to manifest itself on the ground.

"The fall of Tololing Ridge was one such example when three weeks of co-ordinated air strikes and ground action resulted in the joint aim being accomplished with eviction of the enemy from the area. Today, with the fall of Tiger Hill this achievement underscores, once again, the essence of joint army-air force operations," he said.

Group Captain Ganesh said air strikes were carried out against a supply camp of the infiltrators in the Kaksar area this afternoon, the first attack in the last two days.

Owing to extensive cloud cover, there were no air strikes last night though IAF missions did take off and proceed to the target area both last night as well as this morning. No air strikes were envisaged in the Drass sub-sector owing to the proximity of Indian troops.

The Kargil Crisis

EARLIER REPORT:
Army launches assault on Tiger Hill

Tell us what you think of this report