Op Rajeev - A battle that Broke enemy Adventurism in Siachen

[Levina]

@Bornubus
great thread
Thanks for tagging me (though I never got the notification for it )

I think I'd read about this just a few years back in the newspaper. Bana top isn't it?

During this action, does anyone know who was the brigade commander? SSG commando, Gen Musharraf!! He was a brigadier in the SSG and the one who attempted to capture certain salients in Bilafond La. It was a disaster and a very hurt Musharraf probably decided to avenge it in 1999 when he launched an even more disastrous Kargil operation!!

As the saying goes, discretion is the better part of valor! Behaving like a cowboy on a steed, charging with all guns blazing was never a good idea!!

Now thats interesting!!!

 

[Bornubus]

@Bornubus
great thread
Thanks for tagging me (though I never got the notification for it )

I think I'd read about this just a few years back in the newspaper. Bana top isn't it?




Now thats interesting!!!

Yes Bana Singh ....a very brave soldier native of j&k ...he is also one of the few soldier who got PVC in his lifetime unlike posthumously.

 

[banvanaxl]

A terrific read mate. Do keep em coming. !

 

[@RV]

Nice thread, keep them coming.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Bana singh single handedly took out the

QAID POST

its now known as BANA POST




it was not the last time that Pakistanis tried to retake siachen but they also tried in 1992 but failed again as usual

And mush had participated every indo Pak war which they never won

And what the hell did Bushy Mushy have to do with that fact.......

 

[Iggy]

During this action, does anyone know who was the brigade commander? SSG commando, Gen Musharraf!! He was a brigadier in the SSG and the one who attempted to capture certain salients in Bilafond La. It was a disaster and a very hurt Musharraf probably decided to avenge it in 1999 when he launched an even more disastrous Kargil operation!!

As the saying goes, discretion is the better part of valor! Behaving like a cowboy on a steed, charging with all guns blazing was never a good idea!!

I read somewhere that the misadventure in Siachin and Kargil was personally benefited to Mushraff. He become top general after Siachin and become the president of Pakistan after Kargil.. So it was not a loss for him personally..

 

[Capt.Popeye]

it was just a reply to the previous post

[
Sorry... I did not comment on your post. What I meant to state was this: that Bushy Mushy had this coincidentally great connection to many wars that did not go right; esp this one..... where he was a "flag-rank" officer and the author of this plan. Which he could never live down. So he cooked up a bigger disaster at Kargil.
As Maj. A.H.Amin PA (Retd) said of him; the only operational decoration that Musharrafff had achieved was a "Sanad-i-Imtiaz" or Mention-in-Dispatches. Being the "Cowboy" that he was, he hankered after bigger glories. Hence 'Kargil Escapades' which unfortunately blew-up in his face and left him "Commando"......

 

[Bornubus]

[
Sorry... I did not comment on your post. What I meant to state was this: that Bushy Mushy had this coincidentally great connection to many wars that did not go right; esp this one..... where he was a "flag-rank" officer and the author of this plan. Which he could never live down. So he cooked up a bigger disaster at Kargil.
As Maj. A.H.Amin PA (Retd) said of him; the only operational decoration that Musharrafff had achieved was a "Sanad-i-Imtiaz" or Mention-in-Dispatches. Being the "Cowboy" that he was, he hankered after bigger glories. Hence 'Kargil Escapades' which unfortunately blew-up in his face and left him "Commando"......

Thanks for the info....that's why he is anti India up to his neck....but a patriot offcourse

 

[Shariq786]

8 men against a brigade size forces won a bit toooooooooooo Faaaaaarrrrrrrrrr even for an indian are they sure the brigade consist of soldiers or they saw a few mountain goats or something and because of low vision in snow they thought a Pakistani brigade was there and started firing blindly ....... ROFL LMAO...........

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Thanks for the info....that's why he is anti India up to his neck....but a patriot offcourse

Nothing wrong with being a Patriot........ but he should have been more intelligent...... he might not have come to grief as he did........including when he usurped his country.

 

[Bornubus]

8 men against a brigade size forces won a bit toooooooooooo Faaaaaarrrrrrrrrr even for an indian are they sure the brigade consist of soldiers or they saw a few mountain goats or something and because of low vision in snow they thought a Pakistani brigade was there and started firing blindly ....... ROFL LMAO...........

SSG fought well...even the writer acknowledged that..
it was a frontal attack just like Kargil.

 

[Koovie]

SSG fought well...even the writer acknowledged that..
it was a frontal attack just like Kargil.

Good read mate! ... but the brigade thing does not make sense... I dont know about the Pak army but most nations have up to around 5,000 men in a brigade.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Good read mate! ... but the brigade thing does not make sense... I dont know about the Pak army but most nations have up to around 5,000 men in a brigade.

See it was hardly a Brigade against a Section/Platoon kind of thing. The terrain is such that if the post and the men manning the post had been overwhelmed, then the rest of the Brigade progressively would have broken through and broken out. That is how the small group of defenders were able to fight off and hold off the rest of the attackers who in fact had become "bottle-necked" by terrain. Also; in that action (which was not a declared war or conflict), the PA could not open up on other fronts and either create a diversionary feint or attack to ease off pressure here or create a counter-attack to pressure else-where. That is the explanation for the situation.

For example, read up about how a troop and then a squadron of AMX-13 light tanks of 20 Lancers held off a Regiment-plus size attack of PA's Pattons in 1965 at Chhamb at Munnawar Tawi; thus allowing the IA to mount a counter-attack else-where or else the road from Jammu to Kashmir would have fallen.

 

[kaku1]

I wonder how many people even know that this battle took place. Are we doing a disservice to the nation by NOT telling these battles to our children and youngsters and our people ?

I will never forget Op Rajeev. It happened on my Birthday when my CO was toasting me in the Officers mess and we heard that the Pakistanis attacked.

But all said and done…this is our Motherland and not an inch will be given…

Hence the saying in Siachen ” Quartered in snow…Silent we Remain…When the bugle calls..we will Stand up and fight again ”

Here goes …

SIACHEN GLACIER – 23 SEPTEMBER 1987

23rd September 1987 is an important day in the history of Siachen when Pakistan’s No. 1 & No. 3 Commando Battalions of the Special Service Group (SSG), along with No 2 Northern Light Infantry (NLI) Battalion of the FCNA, attacked an Indian post, on the Northern shoulder of the Bilafond La pass. The post at an altitude of 19,000 feet, at the time of attack was occupied by only eight men. It was this section that successfully defeated an enemy brigade sized force, creating history of sorts in the annals of military warfare. The attack carried out from 23-25 September 1987, with temperatures dipping to a low of minus 30 degrees Celsius was repeatedly repulsed. The operation codenamed ‘OP QIADAT’ by the Pakistan Army and ‘OP VAJRASHAKTI’ by the Indian Army was a sequel to an earlier operation nicknamed ‘OP RAJIV’, launched three months earlier, when Pakistan lost their ‘Quaid Post’ located at the Southern shoulder of Bilafond La, at a height of 22,000 feet, to the troops of 8 Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAK LI) and the post was renamed ‘Bana Post’.

As per Pakistani reports and signal intercepts, the enemy suffered close to 300 soldiers dead. While Naib Subedar Bana Singh was awarded. the Param Vir Chakra (PVC) for ‘OP RAJIV’, Capt Iqbal of the Pakistan Army was awarded Hilal-i Jur’at (HJ), posthumously for ‘OP QIADAT’ There was wide media coverage of these operations in September and October 1987 but with the passage of time the sacrifices made have since been forgotten…

It was precisely at 5.55 a.m. on 23rd September, when the brave, young and courageous men of Pakistan’s elite SSG, launched their attack on the Indian posts of Ashok and U-Cut, referred to as Rana and Akbar Posts by the Pakistanis. They were appropriately welcomed by Nb Sub Lekh Raj along with seven other men. The numbers swelled, but brave Lekh Raj kept assuring that nothing would happen to the post as long as he was alive. It was not more than 15 minutes after he spoke to me over the radio set when a TOW missile fired from the enemy fire base established at ‘Rahber-II’ hit the bunker and killed the JCO instantaneously along with two other men. The situation became rather precarious with only five men left on the post but these brave men fought gallantly and the enemy wisely retraced their steps toward their Rahber and Tabish Posts in the rear. Capt Nazareth, the young Pakistani officer, who led the initial assault on the Indian post, was subsequently joined by Captains Rashid, Cheema, Akbar, Imran, Mohammad Iqbal seconded from the Army Service Corps to the Commando force and Naib Subedar Sher Bahadur. Captain Sartaj Wali, the Regimental Medical Officer (RMO) was moved forward to attend to the casualties.

As expected, the Pakistanis resumed their misadventure after darkness on 23rd. Their Company Commander Maj Rana was in touch with his battalion commander over the radio set. It was pitch dark, yet the enemy movement was noticed and accurate fire was brought down on them from the only mortar deployed just behind Ashok post and the aerial bursts of rocket launchers fired from Sonam were extremely effective. The attack developed a crescendo by 3.00 a.m. and suddenly there was a pause and I intercepted a message from Captain Rashid to some senior officer in the rear “We are waiting for two hours and the ropes have not fetched up yet, we will be day lighted. Cheema is dead and many are injured badly, please send reinforcements.” Their morale was low and we knew that they would not pursue the attack any further till at least the following night. On the Indian side Maj Chatterjee along with a mixed command of JAK LI and GR troops moved about the whole night motivating his men under heavy and accurate artillery fire The white sheet of ice was blackened with shelling and our pub tents and parachutes, on the ice surface were shredded with shrapnel and the mini camp at Sonam and Bana Top, where I was located, had craters all around. The sight, though scary, was spectacular with the pot holes making a distinct design on the whiteness around our abode.

The enemy resumed his attack on the night of 24th September, i.e. his third night of exposure. This time Captains Rashid and Iqbal led the assault and came very close to the top. The reinforcements promised by the Company and Battalion Commanders had not arrived and they had suffered very heavily and were tired and exhausted. It was close to midnight that I heard Rashid tell his superior officer, “Wherever I move the enemy fires at me” and prompt came the reply “The kafirs have got hold of our radio frequencies and are monitoring them, all troops switch to alternate frequencies.” There was a pause and then Rashid resumes his conversation, “Sir, we are not carrying our alternate frequencies and all are teams have left the base.” After a while there was another conversation intercepted “Rashid has been killed and the reinforcements have not reached, tell these seniors to come forward and see for them selves. They are safe in their bunkers and care little for us.” That was a good indicator, and we knew that the battle had been won.

Such was the story of the battle of Bilafond La, a battle of nerves and guts with no real winners but only losers. When will this fight end? The answer remains, till we shed our egos and ambitions.

Well fought red —Blue the winner.”






A few more interesting things about that battle:

a) the posts ran out of ammunition. The brave soldiers were actually throwing down emptied “dalda” (vegetable oil) cans filled with rock and ice on the enemy climbing the ropes.

b) Replenishment ammo came via a Mi-26 transport helicopter that landed in Base camp. This was a first for a helicopter of this size and weight to land there. Such was the power of this beast that most of the tents in a 300m vicinity were blown down. It couldn’t turn around within the Base, but had to fly to the widest part of the glacier to turn around and head back. Kudos to the pilots who even thought of flying this beast to 12,000 ft ASL. It’s ceiling is 15,000 but it cant carry anything leave alone ammo.

c) Some of the soldiers were evacuated at night by AirOP pilots flying daring missions with floodlights attached to the front of the helicopters. So many of them survived to tell the tale.


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I know this.

Yes Even Pak captured the strategic point in Siachen.

LOL @moderators this is a pakistani forum not a place to entertain enemy propaganda.

Running away from realities again?

 

[Bornubus]

Good read mate! ... but the brigade thing does not make sense... I dont know about the Pak army but most nations have up to around 5,000 men in a brigade.

Pakistanis says the same thing.....that Qaid post was attacked by IA brigade size strength 3 Times ..before it was captured by India.

Bravery Beyond comparison-Hony Capt Bana Singh | Page 2

@kaku

As far as i know IA occupied the strategic and commanding heights of the glacier....while PA is stationed in the foothills....kms away from main glacier.