The Indian Army’s rare strike on foreign soil on June 9 will make it to the force's elite schools specialising in counter insurgency, jungle warfare and special operations as a case study, a senior army officer told HT.
Indian paratroopers conducted cross-border raids on two insurgent camps in Myanmar –- across the Manipur and Nagaland borders -- inflicting "significant casualties" five days after 18 soldiers were killed in Manipur’s Chandel district in the worst attack on security forces in 20 years.
“The operation was a tactical masterpiece and scrutinising it at our teaching establishments will help our military professionals understand the nuances of such strikes,” said the officer, who did not wish to be named because of diplomatic sensitivities.
Two assault teams, consisting of 40 soldiers each, from the elite 21 Para (Special Force) Regiment had penetrated five-seven kilometers inside Myanmar and killed more than 20 insurgents in separate engagements that lasted less than 30 minutes, as first reported by HT on June 10.
The twin raids, authorised by the highest levels in the government, will be studied in minute detail at establishments such as the Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School at Vairengte in Mizoram, Special Forces Training School in Nahan and the Infantry School and Army War College in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh.
{{/usCountry}}The twin raids, authorised by the highest levels in the government, will be studied in minute detail at establishments such as the Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School at Vairengte in Mizoram, Special Forces Training School in Nahan and the Infantry School and Army War College in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh.
{{/usCountry}}The case study will be disseminated to these institutions by the Shimla-based Army Training Command, responsible for developing the force’s concepts and doctrines.
“The Myanmar strikes will make for a superb case study for our soldiers and young leaders. It was a fine demonstration of politico-military will to carry out a punitive strike on foreign soil,” lieutenant general Vinod Bhatia, a paratrooper and former director general of military operations, told HT.
Bhatia stressed it would give soldiers valuable insights into aspects related to planning, preparing, training for and executing such precise operations in unfamiliar territory. “There’s a lot they can learn from the Myanmar raids at the tactical level,” he added.