Battle of Haji Pir Pass (1965)

In April 1965, there were a number of ceasefire violations by Pakistan and in May, Pakistani forces occupied three hill features overlooking the Srinagar – Leh Highway and commenced accurate artillery fire on the highway. == Preliminaries ==

On 15 August 1965, the Indian Army crossed the Ceasefire line (CFL) and recaptured the three hill positions that had been earlier occupied by Pakistan and were being used to disrupt traffic on the Srinagar – Leh Highway. A decision was also taken to capture the Haji Pir Bulge, which was a key hub and ingress route for infiltrations into India. The plan of attack was a pincer movement, to avoid a frontal assault in order to minimise casualties. The movement from the west [from Uri side] was codenamed Operation Bakshi, and the 19th Infantry Division was tasked with capturing Haji Pir pass and the bulge, and 68 Infantry Brigade was placed under the 19th Infantry Division. The movement from the east was codenamed Operation Faulad and the 25th Infantry Division was tasked with linking up from Poonch in the south of the bulge. 1 Para, 19 Punjab and 4 Rajput were identified as the main strike units while 6 JAK RIF and 4 Sikh LI were held in reserve. D-Day for the operation was set as 26 August. ==The battle==

On 26 August 21:30 hours, 1 Para battalion crossed the Ceasefire Line to the west towards Sank, which had well prepared defenses, barbed wires and minefields. The Brigade commander Brigadier Bakshi was himself part of the assaulting force. The assault was carried out in very difficult circumstances, across steep terrain and under heavy rain. However, with covering artillery fire on the Pakistani defenders, the Indian troop was able to advance and by 0415 hours the next morning, the force had attained the objective of Sank. The Pakistan defenders were taken completely unawares, panicked and fled, leaving behind their heavy weapons. After capturing Sank the battalion continued with its advance towards the next features of Sar and Ledi Wali Gali and captured both on the same day. Major Ranjit Singh Dyal requested and procured permission to press on to Haji Pir Pass. On reaching Haji Pir Pass, they encountered a counterattack by Pakistani forces. Leaving 1 platoon to engage the Pakistani forces, Major Dyal led the rest of his troop and climbed the steep western shoulder of the pass while carrying heavy loads through the rain. Out-flanked, the Pakistani defenders abandoned their weapons and fled down the hill. By 1030 hours on 28 August, Haji Pir pass had been captured. The Pakistani brigade counterattacked on 29 August, but 1 Para repulsed the attack as well as captured a few other features and consolidated its position. In the meanwhile, 19 Punjab captured Pathra on 26 August. However, 4 Rajput was unable to capture Bedori due to highly rugged and precipitous terrain and having suffered heavy casualties, was forced to pull back. The commander of 19 Punjab volunteered to attack Bedori from a different direction and by 29 August had attained his objective in the face of intense resistance from defending forces. On 5 September, 4 Rajput captured Bisali, but had to fall back to Sank due to an intense counterattack by Pakistani forces. By 10 September, the 93 infantry brigade had linked up with the units and the entire Haji Pir bulge came under Indian control. ==Aftermath==

India's capture of the entire Haji Pir bulge and Haji Pir pass was a major strategic victory as it neutralised the logistical set up and plugged the ingress routes of infiltrators as well as brought the Poonch - Uri road under Indian control, thus reducing the road distance between these 2 towns from 282 km to 56 km. ==See also==