New Delhi, September 28: The Indian Army conducted Surgical Strike on September 29, 2016, in which terror launchpads in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) were destroyed. The Indian army destroyed the terror camps to avenge the Uri attack of September 18, 2016, in which 18 soldiers people were martyred. In the four-hour-long operation, the Special Forces commandoes of the Indian Army killed 38 terrorists and two Pakistani soldiers.

The operation was conducted by the army in Bhimber, Hotspring, Kel and Lipa sectors in the Pakistan side of the Line of Control (LoC). The Special Forces commandoes were airdropped at the LoC from where they crossed to the Pakistani side. Since the day, the Indian Army announced that it had conducted the surgical strikes in PoK both the government and the opposition parties are at loggerheads. The opposition accused the Centre of taking political advantage of the operation. Surgical Strike Video: Fresh Visuals of September 29, 2016, Indian Army Operation in PoK Surface.

The Congress claimed that it had also conducted surgical strikes during its regimes. Responding to a video of the 2016 surgical strikes, the Congress said that the Indian Army carried out eight such kinds of operations post-2000. Cross-border operations conducted by the Army during the UPA regime as claimed by the Congress are:

1)    January 21, 2000 - Nadala Enclave, across the Neelam River

2)    September 18, 2003 - Baroh Sector, Poonch

3)    June 19, 2008 - Bhattal Sector, Poonch

4)    August 30-September 1, 2011 - Sharda Sector, across Neelam River Valley in Kel

5)    January 6, 2013 - Sawan Patra Checkpost

6)    July 27-28, 2013 - Nazapir Sector

7)    August 6, 2013 – Neelam Valley

8)    January 14, 2014 - Army Chief, General Bikram Singh’s statement that a fitting response has been given to the previous year’s (December 23, 2013) cross-border raids by Pakistan

However, former Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of the Indian army, Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia refuted the Congress’ claims. He while speaking to Firstpost said that the operations conducted during the UPA regime were of a different nature than that conducted on September 29, 2016. The Modi Government announced a three-day Parakram Parv celebration across the country to observe the Surgical Strike Day.

The Parakram Parv which began on September 28 will go on till September 30. The main event is being held at India Gate in New Delhi, where cultural events, films, speeches and other activities have been scheduled.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 28, 2018 11:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).