2 main positions recaptured
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, June 9 — Indian soldiers killed five more regulars of the Pakistan Army besides 13 other infiltrators in the past 24 hours of fierce gunbattles in the Batalik and Dras subsectors as major successes were achieved in ground positions.

The troops, as per reports, recaptured two main positions in Batalik, pushing the infiltrators further back to the LoC. In the process, at least five more Pakistani Army regulars were killed raising the total number to 232, since the operations began on May 8. The troops also gunned down 13 other infiltrators and injured 30 in the process of capturing the two main locations north-east of Juber.

Reports said at least three Indian jawans were also killed in the action raising the total number of casualties to 66. The number of injured also rose to 220 with 14 missing in action.

The IAF continued its air strikes in the Dras and Batalik subsectors for the 15th day today, pounding the storage bunkers and other tented targets. The IAF was still using its MiG-21s, MiG-23s and MiG-27s to carry out the strikes and according to reports in all about 500 sorties had been carried out by the IAF fighter aircraft till now.

Meanwhile the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, today expressed confidence that the commitment and determination of the Indian troops would end in victory in the ongoing Kargil operations. He said this after visiting the injured soldiers at the command hospitals at Udhampur and Chandigarh. " Such men you will not find anywhere in the world. With such men, no threat can endanger the country," he said.

According to reports, a major operation to dislodge the infiltrators from some of the heights they were occupying in Batalik, started late last evening. After several hours of heavy exchange of firing and close hand to hand combat, the Indian soldiers captured two important positions occupied by the infiltrators.

An Army spokesman here said although the Indian troops were making their way forward, Pakistan was still attempting to push through infiltrators under the cover of heavy shelling from across the border. As per latest estimates the number of infiltrators who had managed to get across the border was around two battalion strength, which could be well over 1200.

According to sources the air attacks were successful and would continue till the objective of evicting the intruders from Indian territory was achieved.

An Army official said artillery exchanges between the Indian and Pakistani troops took place in the Kargil sector including Turtuk. Indian troops had yesterday killed six Pakistani Army regulars and wounded 19 others in the Turtuk and Batalik sectors in intensified artillery and mortar shelling but lost one officer and two soldiers.

The posts held by the infiltrators were being heavily shelled in Turtuk, Batalik and other areas of the Kargil sector. The Indian troops had been particularly concentrating on the key positions held by the infiltrators in the Dras subsector, the sources said here.

Besides attacking the positions, a vigil was being kept at other points following attempts to push in arms into Indian territory. The Pakistan Army continued unprovoked firing from across the border, opening up at a new sector, Uri. They were also resorting to artillery shelling in the Kanzalwan and Karen sectors and firing mortars in Poonch and Naushera.

"Our operations in the Kargil sector, aimed at evicting the enemy from the pockets of intrusion are progressing as per our operational plans in a steady and deliberate manner," the Army said.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the ex-Defence Personnel Sangathan (North Zone), Air Marshal (retd) Randhir Singh, in a letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, said a large number of able bodied ex-servicemen were offering their services to be utilised in the second line of defence to safeguard India’s security and national pride.

"This segment of ex-servicemen are battle hardened and can easily relieve the younger lot for deployment in the forward areas and yet ensure the administrative and logistic tail remains fully functional and efficient", Mr Singh said in his letter.

Meanwhile, India today reiterated that there would be no compromise on pushing back Pakistan-backed intruders in Kargil and categorically stated that Islamabad could not run away from its responsibility for "whatever happens from their territory".

Even as Pakistan formally conveyed through its Mission here acceptance of the June 12 date as proposed by India for the visit of the Foreign Minister, Mr Sartaj Aziz, New Delhi made it clear that the talks would be structured around one-point agenda how to end the intrusion in Kargil.

Rejecting Islamabad’s claim that its army regulars were not involved in the infiltration in Kargil, a spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs said the Indian Army had provided clear evidence of this when they handed over three bodies of Pakistani soldiers killed on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC) earlier this week.

Besides, for "whatever happens from the Pakistani soil or territory under their control, they are responsible. They cannot abdicate responsibility for this", the spokesman stressed.

The spokesman said New Delhi was awaiting further details of Mr Aziz’s visit before finalising the programme.

The spokesman stressed that Mr Aziz’s visit was taking place not in a vacuum but in the particular context of armed intrusion in the Kargil sector. "The military activity will continue till the armed intrusion amounting to aggression is vacated".

India planning major offensive?
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, June 9 — Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah today left for Delhi, his second trip since the escalation of armed conflict in Kargil sector, to apprise the Union Government on the situation in the Ladakh region.

Dr Abdullah spent two days in Leh-Nubra and Kargil-Dras along with the Governor and senior officers of the state administration.

Significance is being attached to the Chief Minister's current visit to Delhi because of the possibility of major Indian offensive against Pakistan to force Islamabad to withdraw all infiltrators and its soldiers from the heights in Kargil , Dras and Batalik.

From the time of the outbreak of the undeclared war in the Kargil-Dras belt the Chief Minister has been advocating hitting militant training camps and the infiltrators bases across the border to snap their supply lines.

Informed sources said that central leaders, particularly the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister will seek suggestions from Dr Abdullah on ways to checkmate the infiltrators in Kargil so that most of the area held by them is freed within the next three days, before the arrival of Pakistan Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz in Delhi for talks.

According to these informed sources, Dr Abdullah has left for Delhi to persuade the Centre to give a free hand to the Army and the Air Force so that what "we have lost in the Kargil-Dras belt is regained immediately" and to prevent Pakistani troops and infiltrators from creating a perennial problem for the people and Indian troops.

National Conference leaders in the state believe that India's stand on Kargil has been strengthened by the USA asking Pakistan to pull out infiltrators from Kargil.

The US stand that Pakistan should respect the Line of Control and that the Line of Actual Control has been defined and demarcated a long time ago is a boost to India. Given the USA's diplomatic support Dr Abdullah is in favour of India hitting back with vengeance to "teach Pakistan a lesson."

The Chief Minister will also persuade the Centre to release additional funds as the state government has to feed more than 30,000 people rendered homeless in Kargil and other areas owing to Pak shelling.

He has also impressed upon the Centre the need for extending the FCI credit facility so that the state could lift large quantities of foodgrains for stockpiling in Ladakh before the Srinagar-Leh highway closed in October.

6 soldiers die in blast planned for CM
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, June 9 — Six Armymen were killed and four others injured in an IED explosion near Kangan, about 40 kms from here last evening.

The police here said that an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) planted by suspected militants on a road at Kamchabal went off when a security vehicle passed over it at about 5.30 p.m. yesterday. Six Armymen travelling in the vehicle were killed on the spot while four others were injured.

The injured have been admitted to the hospital here.

Sources said that the vehicle of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles was on its way from Kangan to Wangat when the explosion took place.

The Wangat road branches off from the Srinagar-Leh highway, along which due to movement of reinforcements to the trouble-torn Kargil area, security has been increased.

JAMMU: The IED blast in which six soldiers were killed and four others wounded at Kachnambal near Kangan in Ganderbal tehsil on Tuesday was originally intended for Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah's motorcade.

Informed sources said that the Chief Minister was scheduled to visit a shrine at Wangat in connection with the annual Urs. Militants knew of the Chief Minister's programme as it was at the top of his agenda to visit the shrine where Gujjars from all over the state had come to offer prayers.

However, the Chief Minister's visit was cancelled because of his engagements in the Kargil sector. Dr Abdullah, accompanied by the Governor, Mr G.C. Saxena, Chief Secretary, Mr Ashok Jaitley, and Director General Police, Mr Gurbachan Jagat, spent the whole day in Kargil, where they met refugees and other state government and Army functionaries. They returned to Srinagar late in the evening by which time it was too late for the CM to visit the shrine.

According to the informed sources, the militants waited for the whole day. Then when they learnt that the Chief Minister had cancelled his visit they planted the IED minutes before an Army vehicle was to pass. The explosion wrecked the Army vehicle killing six soldiers on the spot.

Dr Abdullah is already under double Z category security and usually moves from one area to another within the state in a government aircraft. Whenever he travels by road a jammer is part of his security bandobast.

Dr Abdullah is on the hit list as militants see him as the main political bulwark against separatist leaders. It was under his leadership that the National Conference succeeded in initiating political process in the Kashmir valley after a gap of six years.

Bodies of Lt Kalia, others handed over

SRINAGAR, June 9 (PTI) — Pakistan today handed over to Army authorities in Kargil bodies of six soldiers, including that of Lieutenant Saurav Kalia, highly placed defence sources said here tonight. The sources said that Lt Kalia of the 4 Jat Regiment had been missing since may 6. Lt Kalia and his men were part of the first patrol which went to the Kaksar area following reports of incursions by Pakistani intruders into the Indian side of the Line of Control, the sources said, adding Kalia and his men were never seen since.

They were apparently ambushed by the intruders in the area.

Nachiketa under observation

NEW DELHI, June 9 (UNI) — Flt Lt K. Nachiketa, who was held captive in Pakistan for eight days, is under medical observation and it will be at least a few weeks before he can get back to flying, air force sources said here today.

The 26-year-old pilot, who is joining back at 9 Squadron in Adampur after the de-briefing here, has a ‘slight compression’ because of ejecting out his fighter aircraft.

The sources said he had been advised rest. Any pilot who is forced to eject out of his aircraft is kept under observation for some time to see if any injury shows up later.

It would not be possible for him to get back into the operations in Kargil immediately, the sources said. He would be at Adampur for a few more weeks, they added.