18 soldiers killed in Uri terror attack were from recce group

NEW DELHI: Without as much naming Pakistan, the Indian Army sent out a veiled warning that retaliation on India’s own terms cannot be ruled out as a fallout of the Uri Army base attack.

“The infantry battalion at Uri is about 1,000-strong. A changeover takes about a month or so. Before the fighting soldiers move in, it is the recce men who move in first and pitch tents and set up langars or kitchens. It is this group of men who are positioned at the rear of the battalion base who were unfortunately targeted either by design or by default,” the official added.

The DGMO read out the total list of recoveries made from the slain terrorists — four AK-47 rifles, four under-barrel grenade launchers, 39 UBGL grenades, five hand grenades, two radio sets, two GPS sets, two map sheets, two matrix sheets, one mobile phone and a large number of food and medicine packets having Pakistani markings. He also informed that the combing operations at the army camp concluded.

NIA takes over Uri probe
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the investigations into Sunday’s terror attack at an Army base in Uri close to the Line of Control.
A team of NIA sleuths and other officials arrived here on Monday and later visited the scene of the attack.

They are likely to be joined by a few more officials and will together operate both from Uri and Srinagar till the completion of the investigation, official sources said. The Army is separately probing the incident especially how the militants’ group succeeded in relocating to a fully entrenched important military installation.

The death toll in the attack rose to 18 after one of the critically injured Army jawan K. Vikas Janardhan, who was airlifted to Delhi’s Army Research and Referral Hospital died on Monday. Two other critically injured soldiers have also been airlifted to the military hospital in the Union capital. Mean-while, the Army has released the names of other 17 slain soldiers.