.jpg?rect=0%2C0%2C960%2C540&auto=format%2Ccompress&fmt=webp&width=720)
A phone recording of the Superintendent of Police of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir’s Mirpur region, Ghulam Akhbar, in conversation with a reporter posing as Inspector General of the region, Mushtaq, has revealed that the Pakistan police had noticed the Indian Army’s surgical strikes on terror launchpads.
Nearly a week after India said it had carried out the strikes, CNN News18 claimed that a senior police official in Pakistan-held Kashmir, under the impression that he was speaking to his superior, confirmed every single claim made by the Indian Army to its Investigations Editor Manoj Gupta over a phone call.
During the call with Gupta, he clearly stated that the Pakistan Army was caught unawares by the Indian attack and lost five of its soldiers – the TV news channel said it has their names – and that the bodies of unknown number of terrorists were quickly removed by the Pakistani military later.
During the investigation Akhbar revealed that the surgical strikes, denied by Pakistan so far, happened between 2am and 5am. He claimed that around 12 people were killed by Indian soldiers.
Akbar also claims that the dead bodies from the terror launchpads were picked up by the Pakistan Army and taken back into the villages; most of them were buried there.
In response, Akbar painted a true picture of the areas that he personally knew were under attack that night – Samana in Bhimber, Hazira in Poonch, Dudhniyal in Neelam and Kayani in Hathian Bala – and said the Pakistan Army had cordoned off all these areas immediately after the Indian Army's strikes.
Akbar's statement also corroborated what Indian Director General of Military Operations Lt General Ranbir Singh had said during his press conference on 29 September where he announced that India had carried out surgical strikes in Pakistan-held Kashmir, destroyed terror launch pads, and inflicted heavy casualties on the militants, the TV news channel claimed.
India has not officially announced how many militants were killed in the strikes, only saying it managed to neutralise a "significant" number of terrorists. However, Islamabad has disputed the Indian claim of surgical strikes, and said it lost two soldiers in cross-border firing by Indian troops that night.
"Sir, that was night... you can say roughly 3-4 hours... between 2am and 4 or 5am... the attack continued between that time," Akbar told CNN-News18, even confirming the time of the strike.
"There were attacks on separate places... several places were attacked... they also met resistance," he was cited by the news channel as saying.
(Source: CNN News18)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)