No records of any previous ‘surgical strike’: DGMO in RTI reply

The Directorate General of Military Operations of the Army does not have records of any “surgical strike” conducted before September 29, 2016.

Responding to an RTI application filed by PTI, the DGMO at the Integrated Headquarters of the Defence Ministry (Army) said a “surgical strike” was carried out on September 29, 2016. “This section does not maintain records of any other surgical strikes, if any conducted earlier,” the reply said. It said a statement on this was issued by the DGMO at a press conference. The RTI application with the Defence Ministry also sought the definition of the term “surgical strikes” in the records of Indian Army.

The DGMO replied, “As per the information available in ‘open source’ the definition of ‘surgical strike’ is ‘…an operation which is planned based on specific intelligence, on a legitimate military target for maximum effect and with minimum or no collateral damage. It involves deliberate insertion to target area, precise execution and swift extrication of the body of troops back to the base’.” The application asked the Defence Ministry if the “surgical strike” mentioned in a DGMO statement of September 29, 2016, was the first ever in the history of the Indian Army.

It also wanted …read more