11 JUNE 2015: India attacks terrorist camp of NSCN(K) in Myanmar

Ø  The death toll in the Army’s strike on two militant camps inside Myanmar on Tuesday could touch 70 as defence officials spoke of keeping up the pressure on anti-India insurgents operating from there. In a late-night development, the Myanmar government denied any raid on inside its territory. The news agency AFP reported that Zaw Htay, Director of Myanmar’s Presidential Office, said in a Facebook post: “According to the information sent by Tatmadaw [Myanmar Army] battalions on the ground, we have learned that the military operation was performed on the Indian side at India-Myanmar border.”

Ø  By striking at militant camps across the border and inside Myanmar territory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has demonstrated that he is willing to bite the bullet and take tough action when it comes to the killing of Indian soldiers. Days after the June 4 killing of at least 20 personnel of the 6 Dogra Regiment in Chandel district of Manipur allegedly by militants of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang), a robust response has come from the Indian Special Forces. Confirmation of the strike on two militant camps inside Myanmar territory has come from none other than Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. He confirmed that the Indian forces “carried out strikes on two of the militant camps, annihilating the entire camps, and have returned safely”. He pointed out that Prime Minister Modi had taken a “very bold step” and given the go-ahead for hot pursuit into Myanmar, adding that the response was a message to other countries that might be inimical to India. Meanwhile, the official Army version simply spoke of the forces having engaged two separate groups of insurgents “along the Indo-Myanmar border”, without referring to any cross-border operation.

Ø  National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, specially tasked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prepare a response to the June 4 killing of Army men in Manipur by a Naga group, is travelling to Myanmar to discuss joint action against the militants. On the modalities of the cross-border operation, Army officials said commandos from the 21 Para unit were airdropped from helicopters on the border, from where they sneaked across in small teams. The two camps, hit by the Special Forces, one facing Manipur and one facing Nagaland, are believed to be 5-7 km inside Myanmar. An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was giving live feed of the operation to the control room. Intelligence sources estimate that insurgent camps in Myanmar are located across 20 locations within 5-15 km from the border. On the fallout of the operations, one Army officer said the confidence of the militants was shattered and they might shift camp to other locations. The officer also felt that the response by insurgents is likely to be ‘scaled up.’