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'800 to 900 intruders still in Kargil'

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

The Indian Army today said there were still 800 to 900 Pakistan-backed intruders in the Kargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

Briefing the media in Srinagar, Brigadier A K Chopra admitted that the infiltrators' supply lines have not yet been completely cut off and ''some infiltration in the upper reaches was still continuing. We will cut off their supply lines soon as the operations are progressing well."

Giving details of the successful operations in the Drass sector and the capture of Point 4590 and a position called 'Hump', he said that the army has killed 15 Pakistani intruders in the two-day assault.

Besides important documents, a large quantity of arms and ammunition including 2 RPG7s, 17 AK-56 rifles and one automatic grenade launcher have been recovered.

He said that 21 Indian soldiers including one officer and two JCOs have died in the assault on June 13 and 14.

The documents revealed that the Pakistan army's 6 Northern Light Infantry battalion was operating in the Drass sector while the 3rd and 4th battalions were operating in the Batalik sector, he said.

The pay book of sepoy Ghulam Haider and the hospital document of Noor Khan had been recovered.

"It was a hand-to-hand fight and we have now pushed them three to four kilometres away in the Drass sector," he said.

The operations to capture Tiger hill are continuing. "We are now eye ball to eye ball with each other at Point 5140," he said.

So far the army has killed 350 to 400 infiltrators in various sectors. "But there are still 800 to 900 intruders on the ridges," he said.

He said the Pakistanis attacked the brigade headquarters at Matayan near Zojila killing one soldier. No damage has been caused to the headquarters, he said.

However, sources in Srinagar said that the headquarters had suffered damage.

The brigadier admitted that the "operations in Kargil, Drass and Batalik were time-consuming as the terrain was difficult". He said that the motive of the intruders was to "cut off the highway and occupy the 'unheld' areas".

He said the Indian Air Force carried out air strikes today in various areas.

The Kargil Crisis

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