Pak Beheading Squad Intercepted Yesterday Were Army Commandos

New Delhi: A day after the Army foiled an attack in Kashmir by a squad of the Pakistani Border Action Team, details are emerging of how one of the terrorists killed was likely to have been a serving soldier of the elite Special Services Group (SSG) Commando force of the Pakistan Army. 

According to sources in the Army, the BAT group that came within 200 metres of an Indian Army post, not far from the Chakan da Bagh - crossing point between India and Pakistan in Poonch - was extremely well trained and the men were wearing military fatigues. Unlike terrorists who often shoot at security forces and flee, this BAT group chose to hunker down and engage the Army in a firefight despite the fact that they had been spotted and were being fired at by Indian jawans after being detected 600 metres within Indian territory. 

In this firefight, two Indian jawans, Naik Jadhav Sandip Sarjerao and Sepoy Mane Savan Balku, were killed by the Pakistani intruders. 

Two members of the six-man Pak BAT were also killed and one of the bodies has now been recovered. After suffering losses, the Pakistani commando unit attempted to retrieve the bodies of their dead and injured team members before fleeing back across the Line of Control. Army sources say terrorists who come into Kashmir "never attempt to do this" and say that this act is a clear indicator of the involvement of a regular army unit who are trained never to leave a dead or injured fellow soldier behind enemy lines.

Neither is there any doubt about what the intention of the Border Action Team was. A photo of the commando whose body has been retrieved shows the weapons he was carrying. This includes a braided knife and what appears to be a small sword. He also had a camera mounted to his head.
 On May 1, another BAT team had crossed 250 metres across the Line of Control in Kashmir in the same sector and beheaded two Indian security personnel. Yesterday's BAT mission was the third attempt this year by Pakistani forces to mutilate Indian soldiers. Two of these attempts, including the one yesterday, have failed after the Indian Army detected the Pakistani intrusion. 

Unlike other terrorist groups, BAT team members do not carry stores and supplies that they may require if they are to attempt infiltrating villages and towns in Kashmir. Instead, they come armed with just enough weaponry, including assault rifles, grenades, knives and swords to attack Indian Army patrols along the Line of Control before they return to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Mutilating Indian soldiers is an attempt at demoralising Indian forces.

NDTV has now been able to access a two-month-old photograph of a Pakistani Border Action Team, perhaps the first such image released to the media. The photo accessed by NDTV shows a group of Pakistani soldiers wearing standard combat fatigues similar to what the Border Action Team commandos involved in yesterday's operation were wearing. 
 Army sources point out that the appearance and fighting ability of this Border Action Team contrasts starkly with other terrorist groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir.
 Pakistani Border Action Teams are manned by regular commandos of the Pakistani Army including elite soldiers of SSG. Terrorists may be included within a BAT squad, which usually has six members.