CNN-NEWS18 Exclusive: PoK Cop Confirms Surgical Strikes Happened

Pakistan may continue to deny India’s assertions about the “surgical strikes” on terrorist launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), but CNN-News18 can confirm – based on disclosures by a senior Pakistani police official – that the strikes did indeed take place and killed at least five Pakistani soldiers and an unspecified number of militants.

Six days after India said it had carried out the strikes inside PoK, the response of the Pakistani establishment has ranged from absolute dismissal by its military leadership to ridicule of India’s claim by its defence minister. But that has now been shattered with just one phone call that CNN-News18’s Investigations Editor Manoj Gupta made to a senior police official in PoK who, under the impression he was speaking to his superior, rattled off the events of that tumultuous night and confirmed every single claim made by the Indian Army.
 

Ghulam Akbar, Superintendent of Police (Special Branch) of the Mirpur Range in PoK, is heard confirming that the surgical strikes had indeed taken place at many sectors on the early hours of September 29. During the call with Gupta, he clearly stated that the Pakistani Army was caught unawares by the Indian attack and lost five of its soldiers (CNN-News18 has their names) and that the bodies of unknown number of terrorists were quickly removed by the Pakistani military.

 

CNN-News18’s Gupta called Akbar pretending to be ‘IG Mushtaq’ and sought details about the casualties of that night. In response, Akbar paints 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 Pakistani Army has cordoned off all these areas immediately after the surgical strikes. The SP also said Pakistani Army put the dead bodies in ambulances and took them away, adding that many have been buried in villages and that his cops were evaluating the coffin boxes.

 

Akbar also confirmed every single line that Indian Director-General of Military Operations Lt General Ranbir Singh had said in his press conference on September 30 where he announced to the world that India had carried out surgical strikes into PoK and destroy terror launch pads. India has not officially announced how many people it killed during the strikes, only saying it managed to neutralize a “significant” number of terrorists. However, Islamabad has pooh poohed the Indian claims of surgical strikes, and said it lost two soldiers in cross border firing by Indian troops. 

 

“Sir, that was night...you can say roughly 3-4 hours... between 2 am and 4 or 5am... the attack continued between that time,” Akbar told CNN-News18, even confirming the time of the commando raid.

 

“There were attacks on separate places... several places were attacked... they also met resistance,” he said.

 

And in another revelation that could put Pakistan on a mat, Akbar also revealed that the Pakistani Army facilitates jihadi movement in forward areas and arranges for their crossing over to India. “The Army brings them, sir... it is in their hands,” he says adding that he can’t give accurate numbers because Pakistani Army protects the jihadi infrastructure from even the local authorities and police.

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