Pak finally admits role in Kargil war

Eleven years after the Kargil War, the Pakistan Army, which has been denying its role in the conflict, has quietly included the names of 453 soldiers and officers killed in the battle on its website. Proof of the involvement of regular Pakistani soldiers in the 1999 war has come from the Pakistani army, an institution that spent years denying its role in the hostilities with India. The 453 Pakistani soldiers were shown killed in the Batalik-Kargil sector in J&K. Their names are tucked away on a list of thousands of personnel killed on duty, which has been posted in the “Shuhada’s Corner” (Martyrs Corner) of the website.
The very first page of the long list of martyrs includes the names of Capt Karnal Sher and Havildar Lalak Jan, who were both killed on July 7, 1999, in Kargil and awarded Pakistan’s highest military award, the Nishan-e-Haider. Several others were posthumously given other gallantry awards like the Tamgha-e-Jurat (Medal of Courage). The army also reveals the code name—“Operation Koh-e-Paima” or Mountain of Resolve —given to the operation to occupy strategic mountains and heights on the Indian side of the LOC. In some cases, the campaign is also referred to as “Operation Kargil”. A majority of those who died in Kargil were soldiers from the Northern Light Infantry, a formation that was made a regular regiment of the Pakistan Army because of its performance in the 1999 conflict. It was earlier a paramilitary force formed by the amalgamation of several militias from the Northern Areas or Gilgit-Baltistan. Several causes are cited for those who died in Kargil—“killed in action”, “enemy action”, “enemy firing”, “enemy artillery shelling” and even “road accident”. The list gives the name, rank, unit, and location and nature of death of each casualty. During the Kargil conflict and in subsequent years, the Pakistan Army insisted that none of its regular soldiers was involved in the hostilities.