May 1999 · Kargil district, Ladakh Theater
May 1999
Over the winter of 1998–99, Pakistani soldiers and militants secretly crossed the Line of Control and occupied unmanned mountain peaks overlooking the strategic Srinagar–Leh highway near Kargil, at altitudes above 16,000 feet. Their discovery in May 1999 by shepherds and patrols revealed a major incursion, and India mobilised for war to retake the heights.
Commanders