When Indian soldiers moved towards Tiger Hill
Tiger Hill, one of the highest peaks in the Kargil area, was captured by the Northern Light Infantry of the Pakistan Army and the mission to recapture it was assigned to the 8 Sikh Regiment. Sepoy Satpal, now 51, recalls how Sher Khan of the Northern Light Infantry and other Pakistani soldiers kept abusing during the battle. Satpal says Sikh soldiers are full of bravery and cannot be intimidated. Our 8 Sikh Regiment was given the task of recapturing Tiger Hill. A team was formed which comprised 52 soldiers, including two officers, four JCOs (junior commissioned officers) and 46 other ranks.
faced a counter attack from the Pakistani army
Satpal tells that on the night of 4 July 1999, our Ghatak platoon recited, did Ardaas and then moved towards the point of Tiger Hill which was occupied by the Pakistani army. On the morning of 5 July, amidst the slogans of 'Bole So Nihal Sat Sri Akal', we captured India Gate near Tiger Hill. Some of our enemies were killed while others managed to escape. Satpal recalls that the next morning on 6 July, we had to face a counter-attack from the Pakistani army. Despite being less in number, the Sikh soldiers fought bravely and pushed the Pakistanis back. But this was not the end of that battle. Satpal says that after this Pakistani Captain Sher Khan gathered his army for the third time for a counter-attack. He did this even knowing that he would not be able to defeat the Sikh soldiers.
Within a few moments, four bullets were fired from the AK-47
Recalling that day, Satpal says, “I saw Sher Khan wearing a track suit. At that time we did not know who he was. For more than five minutes, we both fired at each other and abused each other. I shot at him, injuring him and then I pounced on him. But within seconds, I was hit by four bullets from an AK 47 which hit my right leg, stomach, left arm and left shoulder. I somehow composed myself and fired at the three guards covering Sher Khan. After a scuffle, I managed to shoot Sher Khan. Both of us fought bravely.”
Pakistani captain was praised
In the battle that lasted for about 50 minutes, 18 soldiers of our team were martyred, including three JCOs and 15 other ranks, while more than 85 soldiers of the enemy side were killed. On the morning of July 7, our team from the headquarters arrived to take us to the hospital. Satpal may have fought Sher Khan, but he believes in his bravery. Satpal says that Sher Khan was brave and strong. Our commander also put a slip in the pocket of the dead Pakistani captain, which said that he had fought bravely. Satpal says that he inherited the spirit of war from his father Late Ajaib Singh, who fought in the 1971 war between India and Pakistan on the Ferozepur border of Punjab.
`; articlesDiv.innerHTML += articleHTML; }); } // Initialize and render feeds fetchAndRenderFeeds();