Tiger Hills

'Tiger Hills' is an extract from General Ved Prakash Malik's 'Kargil: From Surprise to Victory'. Written as a precise, unemotional report, it records the planning and execution of one of the finest Indian Army victories of the 1999 Kargil War, the recapture of the strategically vital Tiger Hill.

A national challenge

Tiger Hill towers majestically above the surrounding peaks and, though about 10 km north of the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh highway, the enemy position on it dominated parts of the highway. After the recapture of Tololing, evicting the enemy from this well-fortified peak became a priority. Its sharp triangular top, clearly visible from the highway and seemingly impossible to capture, led the media to project the whole episode as a national challenge.

Brigadier M.P.S. Bajwa assigned the mission to 18 Grenadiers (rested after Tololing) and 8 Sikh, assisted by a crack High Altitude Warfare School team and maximum artillery, engineering and combat support. Through the last week of June 1999, 18 Grenadiers probed the enemy defences and scouted routes; a simultaneous multidirectional assault emerged as the best strategy.

The multidirectional night assault

An elaborate artillery fire plan was drawn up; nearly 120 field and medium guns, Grad rocket launchers and mortars, along with Bofors guns in a direct-firing role and Air Force strikes, rained destruction on Tiger Hill. For the first time in India's military history, a TV channel covered the battle live, a sign of progress and transparency.

At 1900 hours on 3 July, 18 Grenadiers began the assault under cover of bad weather and darkness. Captain Sachin Nimbalkar's 'D' Company scaled a steep escarpment with mountaineering equipment and surprised the enemy, while 'C' Company and the Ghatak platoon under Lieutenant Balwan Singh gained a toehold just 30 metres from the top. At 0400 hours on 4 July, after artillery bombardment, they climbed a sheer cliff, caught the enemy unawares, and after hand-to-hand fighting captured Tiger Hill Top. Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav and his team showed exceptional courage.

Holding the ground and cutting supply lines

Holding the captured ground against counterattacks proved one of the hardest tasks; the Grenadiers clung to their 'precarious perch' with grit as casualties mounted. Realising the enemy could not be fully evicted while his western-spur supply lines were intact, commanders ordered 8 Sikh to capture Helmet and India Gate. An adhoc column led by Major Ravindra Singh climbed a steep rock face and took India Gate, and despite heavy casualties 8 Sikh captured Helmet on 5 July, repulsing counterattacks. In this fighting, Pakistan's Captain Karnal Sher Khan was killed; his body was honourably handed over, a humanitarian norm the narrator highlights.

Victory and its wider impact

From New Delhi, General Malik anxiously awaited confirmation. At 0730 hours on 4 July, Mohinder Puri confirmed that the enemy could not dislodge 18 Grenadiers, and the news was passed to the Prime Minister and Defence Minister. Significantly, the victory was announced to the world just hours before Nawaz Sharif's meeting with US President Bill Clinton, signalling the war's likely outcome. Pakistan had even denied Tiger Hill's existence, so its loss was a heavy physical and psychological blow.

On 8 July, after clearing the objective, 18 Grenadiers hoisted the Indian tricolour on Tiger Hill Top. The battalion had fought with high professionalism and collective valour, notching up two of the finest victories for the Indian Army, and later carried out a major rescue, Operation Khukri, on a UN mission in Sierra Leone.