Indian fighter aircraft and helicopters yesterday launched strikes against over 600 well-armed Pakistani-backed Muslim mercenaries, occupying a large portion of Indian territory along the line of control between the two neighbours, in the disputed northern state of Kashmir, at heights above 15,000 ft.
Military officials in New Delhi said the air operations being conducted from the airfields in the state capital, Srinagar, would continue until the army reoccupied the wide swathe of Indian territory in the remote Kargil area held by the infiltrators, some 65 miles north-east of Srinagar.
The Srinagar airport has been closed to all civilian flights and leave for all military, paramilitary and police personnel in Kashmir has been cancelled.
Military officials said that using a variety of Russian fighter aircraft and attack helicopters, the air force had inflicted "heavy casualties" on the infiltrators. They include Taliban guerrilla fighters from Afghanistan and other Muslim mercenaries.
India also accused Pakistan's military of firing a surface-to-air missile at an air force Canberra survey aircraft along the line of control earlier in the week, despite advance warning of its flight path to the Pakistani authorities.
Military officials said yesterday's air strikes became necessary after the Indian army, backed by artillery fire, had made little headway since early May in dislodging the infiltrators occupying at least 35 vantage points atop a snowbound, glacial ridge about 6 km inside Indian territory.
The Indian Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, told his Pakistani counterpart, Mr Nawaz Sharif, that all possible steps would be taken to clear the intrusions into Indian territory.
"I made it clear that we will not allow any intrusion to take place in our territory," he said. Mr Vajpayee claimed the intruders were being helped by the Pakistani military.
In an official statement, the Ministry of Defence said if not contained at this stage Pakistan would have been encouraged to extend its operations further. "Delayed reaction could have called for more severe action, possibly increasing the areas and scope of the operations," it said.
The Ministry of Defence warned the Pakistani military against interference and said the Indian armed forces had been "authorised to take appropriate action" should there be any.
Earlier Maj Gen J.J. Singh, additional director-general of military operations, admitted it would take at least two to three months to push the invaders back, as military gains in the inhospitable region were "deliberate and time-consuming".
He said 17 Indian soldiers had died and 70 were injured, 20 of them seriously, in the fighting over the past two weeks on terrain that offered no cover. Fourteen other soldiers, including three officers, were missing. They were presumed to be either lost, wounded or even captured by the Pakistani forces. He said more than 160 of the infiltrators had been killed and many more wounded.
Military officials said the intruders were armed with assault rifles and mortars. They also had snowmobile scooters and radar and were backed up by helicopter units of the Pakistani army. Using high-powered military radios the infiltrators directed Pakistani artillery to provide them with covering fire against Indian troops and restrict movement on the crucial highway linking Srinagar to the town of Leh, bordering Tibet.
Nearly 30,000 Indian troops had so far been moved into the Kargil region, and Special Forces commandos dropped by helicopters on ridges surrounding the intruders.
The army has rushed its howitzers to counter Pakistani artillery fire in an attempt to choke off the invaders' supply lines before launching a ground offensive to "squeeze and dislodge them".
Since 1989 India has accused Pakistan of "sponsoring" separatists fighting for independence in Kashmir, the country's only Muslim-majority state.
