NEW DELHI: Indian Army is believed to have carried out a rare cross-border operation into Myanmar, to avenge the killing of 18 soldiers in Manipur last week. In a bold operation, special operation troops are believed to have gone across the border and neutralised a high number of militants.
A formal announcement on the same is expected at 6:00 PM. However, India will not admit to have carried out this operation in Myanmar. It has been confirmed to ET that special paratroopers, on the basis of intelligence inputs, neutralised close to a dozen militants involved in the Manipur ambush.
Last week ET had reported that the perpetrators of one of the deadliest attacks on the Army in recent decades are believed to have crossed back into Myanmar. A day after the attack in Manipur's Chandel district, a massive operational and intelligence failure had come to light that led to the ambush of the Army administrative patrol in which soldiers could not effectively retaliate, boxed in by an IED blast and multiple rounds of rocket-propelled grenades.
By most accounts, the attackers — which the Army believes is a mixed group of Meitei militants led by the KYKL faction while internal agencies point to the Khaplang faction of the NSCN as the main player — managed to cross the international border into Myanmar by Thursday afternoon last week.
Even as investigations into the motive and composition of the militant group will be carried, an embarrassing operational and intelligence failure came to light for the Army that has ordered a court of inquiry into the incident.
Sources said that several standard operating procedures appear to have been violated, starting with the fact that the critical road opening party — tasked with clearing the route of the convoy — having failed to detect the presence of the militants. While the convoy — consisting of soldiers of the 6 Dogra Regiment proceeding on leave — was a soft target, the militants also managed to box in a leading vehicle the consisted of the elite 'Ghatak' quick reaction team of the regiment.
Officials believe that the militants carried out the attack after over two weeks of preparation and deliberately chose a spot for the ambush that fell between the responsibility areas of the 20 Assam Rifles and the 6 Dogra Regiment.
Insurgents ambushed a military convoy in Manipur's Chandel district last week, killing at least 18 soldiers in one of the worst attacks on the Army in years.
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