Four years ago on this day, in the early hours four heavily armed terrorists from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) crossed the Line of Control (LoC), breached a heavily guarded military camp in the Uri town of J&K and launched a massive grenade attack.
The grenade attack, joined by the huge explosions at the fuel depot, gripped the tents with fire. Many of our brave sons of India were in the flames, some bravehearts were killed by the terrorists as they tried to flee the fire.
This was one of the worst causalities faced by our brave heroes when they were sleeping in canvas tents. Now the question is why the tents were so close to the fuel depot?
Insights of the blog
- The Uri Attack – What Happened?
- Martyrs – Brave sons of India
- How did it Happen?
- Jaish-e-Mohammed Behind The Attack
- Aftermath
The Uri Attack – What Happened?
As per the investigation, four militants carrying AK-47 rifles and more than 50 incendiary grenades reached the barrels. The terrorists blasted the fuel depot. It was around 5:30 am, four terrorists attacked the Indian Army brigade headquarters. 17 grenades were heaved in just 3 minutes, taking lives of 18 bharat ke veer during the attack. This was not the end, it left many injured, as reported by several newspapers.
The attack sprung a gun-battle between the militants and the Army that lasted around six hours. All four militants were killed. The Army said that the Pakistan-based terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed was behind the attack.
Many of the soldiers who laid their livers were from the 10th Battalion, Dogra Regiment and 6th Battalion, Bihar Regiment.
Martyrs – Brave Sons of India
- Subedar Karnail Singh, R/O Vill Shibu Chak, Teh- Bishnah, District Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir.
- Havildar Ravi Paul, r/o Samba, Dist Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir.
- Sepoy Rakesh Singh, r/o Vill Baddja, Dist Kaimur, Bihar.
- Sepoy Javra Munda, r/o Vill Meral, Dist Khuti, Jharkhand.
- Sepoy Naiman Kujur, r/o Vill Gumla, Chainpur, Jharkhand.
- Sepoy Uike Janrao, r/o Vill Nandgaon (Kh), Dist Amravati, Maharashtra.
- Havildar NS Rawat, r/o Vill Rajawa, Dist Rajasmand, Rajasthan.
- Sepoy Ganesh Shankar, r/o Vill Ghoorapalli, Dist Sant Kabir Nagar, Uttar Pradesh.
- Naik SK Vidarthi, r/o Vill Boknari, Dist Gaya, Bihar.
- Sepoy Biswajit Ghorai, r/o Vill Ganga Sagar, Dist South 24 Parganas, West Bengal.
- Lance Naik G Shankar, r/o Vill Jashi, Dist Satara, Maharashtra.
- Sep G Dalai, r/o Vill Jamuna Balia, Dist Howarah, West Bengal.
- Lance Naik RK Yadav, r/o Vill Balia, Uttar Pradesh.
- Sepoy Harinder Yadav, r/o Vill Ghazipur, Dist Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh.
- Sepoy TS Somnath, r/o Vill Khadangali, Dist Nashik, Maharashtra.
- Havildar Ashok Kumar Singh, r/o Vill Raktu Tola, Dist Bhojpur, Bihar.
- Sepoy Rajesh kr Singh, r/o Vill Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh.
- Sepoy K Vikas Janardhan.
How Did It Happen?
- The headquarters of the 12th Brigade of the Indian Army located in Uri, a peaceful town, were attacked on 18th September 2016. In the last few decades, Uri had never seen any kind of violence.
- The 12th Brigade headquarters in Uri is guarded naturally by the Pir Panjal ranges and the Jhelum river that flows by.
- The terrorists had a good idea about the peaceful environment of Uri and the routine of the army camp. Even the time of attack shows the level of planning terrorists came with. They attacked the army base when the battalions were changing duty.
- During that time, one battalion had completed its tenure of 2 years and was moving out, while the other was arriving into a new location.
Jaish-e-Mohammed Behind The Attack
Director General of Military Operations Lt General Ranbir Singh, while briefing about the Uri attack, said that all the four militants that were killed in a gun-battle had some items with Pakistani markings on them.
The investigations on Uri attack found that the terrorists killed belonged to Jaish-e-Mohammed tanzeem. Four under-barrel grenade launchers, four AK-47 rifles and a many other warlike ammunition were recovered from the militants.
On 21 September 2016, the country summoned the Pakistan High Commission with a letter which included the details of the involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammed’s with the attack.
Aftermath
- After the Uri attack, on 19 September, Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of the Army Staff Dalbir Singh and other officials of the Home and Defence ministries held a meeting to review the security situation in Kashmir, expressly in areas along the Line of Control (LOC).
- On 20th September 2016, after the first information report was filed by The National Investigation Agency, about the Uri attack, it took over the investigation from J&K Police.
- Flights to some parts of Kashmir were cancelled by Pakistan International Airlines on 21 September.
- The security was intensified around the army camps in Uri following the terrorist attack, while both Indian and Pakistani soldiers on LoC were placed on high alert.
Wrapping Up
The terror attack in Uri was eight months after the terrorist attack on Pathankot airbase, Punjab on 1 January 2016, wherein six terrorists targeted the airbase. The terrorists had been able to cause damage on Uri and Pahatankot Indian military installation. India did not sit quite after the 2016 Uri attack and conducted a surgical strike.
