Army Commandos Cross Line of Control, Hit Pakistani Post: Sources

New Delhi: Five army commandos of the "Ghatak" battalion crossed the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch on Monday evening and killed four Pakistani soldiers, senior officials confirmed to NDTV today. This was to avenge the killing of four Indian soldiers including a Major by a Border Action Team of the Pakistan Army in Rajouri on Saturday, said sources.

Sources have described it as a "localised tactical level operation" authorized at the level of a brigadier.

The commandos targeted a group of Pakistani soldiers on patrol near a temporary post. An explosion was triggered near the Pakistani patrol. Some Pakistanis may have been killed in that blast, say sources. The rest were disoriented and taking advantage of that, a small unit of the battalion-level commandos called "Ghatak (deadly)" crossed about 300 m across the line of control and shot the rest of the soldiers in the patrol.
 The Pakistani unit was 59 Baluch, sources say. This battalion comes under the 2 PoK Brigade also called the Rawlakot Brigade of the Pakistan Army.

India's army does not use "surgical strike" to describe the 45-minute operation. It was "selective targeting", said sources; it was meant to be very limited in scope and meant to achieve a very specific goal. No Indian soldier in last night's operation was injured.

The attack has been described as a replica of that by Pakistanis on Saturday, but there was no mutilation attempt by Indian soldiers.

Sources have indicated to NDTV that the goal was to send a clear message, that if Pakistani soldiers attack Indian soldiers, there will be a definite response.

On Saturday, Pakistan troops infiltrated almost 400 m across the Line of Control to target Indian Army soldiers, sources said. The attackers were part of a Pakistan Border Action Team. These groups include special forces of the Pakistan Army and terrorists and are known to intrude into India to target Indian soldiers patrolling along the border.