C OVER STORY
that 75% of the Indian Navy was under maintenance in
harbour.[25]Further south towards Bombay, there were
reports of underwater attacks by the Indian Navy against
what they suspected were American-supplied Pakistani
submarines, but this was never confirmed.A number of
covert operations were launched by the Pakistan Army
to infiltrate Indian airbases and sabotage them.[26] The
SSG (Special Services Group) commandos were parachuted into enemy territory and, according to the then
Chief of Army Staff General Musa Khan, about 135 commandos were airdropped at three airfields. Given that
the Indian targets (Halwara, Pathankot and Adampur)
were deep into enemy territory only 22 commandos
made it back alive and the stealth operation proved ineffective. Of those remaining, 93 were taken prisoner,
and 20 were killed in encounters with the army, police or
the civilians[27] The daring attempt proved to be an "unmitigated disaster"[26] with one of the Commanders of
the operations, Major Khalid Butt being taken Prisoner.
Despite the failed mission, Pakistan sources claim that it
had impacted some of the planned Indian operations, as
the 14 Indian Division was diverted to hunt for paratroopers, the next morning the PAF found the road filled with
transport and destroyed many transport vehicles.[28]
The reason for this failure is attributed to the fact that
they were not provided maps, proper briefing and worst
of all with no planning or preparation[29] In response to
this India announced rewards for any Pakistani spies or
paratroopers.[30] Meanwhile, in Pakistan, there was a
scare that India had retaliated with its own covert ops
by sending commandos deep into Pakistan territory,[29]
but this was later found to be unfounded.[31]
Losses
India and Pakistan hold widely divergent claims on
the damage they have inflicted on each other and the
amount of damage suffered by them. The following summarizes each nation's claims.
Indian claims[32] Pakistani claims[33] Independent
Sources[7][34]
Casualties - - 2763 Indian soldiers, 3800 Pakistani soldiers
Combat flying effort 4073+ combat sorties 2279 combat
sorties
Aircraft lost 35 IAF (official), 73 PAF.Other sources[35]
based on the Official Indian Armed Forces History[36]
put actual IAF losses at 71 including 19 accidents (non
combat sortie rate is not known) and PAF's combat losses alone at 43. 19 PAF, 104 IAF 20 PAF, Pakistan claims
India rejected neutral arbitration,[37] India retorts that
the neutral arbitration by John Fricker was nothing but
a commissioned work. (Singh, Pushpindar (1991). Fiza
ya, Psyche of the Pakistan Air Force. Himalayan Books.
ISBN 81-7002-038-7. )
Aerial victories 17 + 3 (post war) 30 Tanks destroyed 128 Indian tanks,[38] 152 Pakistani
tanks captured, 150 Pakistani tanks destroyed.[38] Officially 471 Pakistani tanks destroyed and 38 captured[39]
165 Pakistan tanks[40] 200 Pakistani tanks
Land area won 1,500 mi2 (2,400 km2) of Pakistani territory 2,000 mi² (3,000 km²) of Indian territory India held
710 mi² (1,840 km²) of Pakistani territory and Pakistan
held 210 mi² (545 km²) of Indian territory
There have been only a few neutral assessments of the
damages of the war, some of the neutral assessments
are mentioned below:-
According to the United States Library of Congress Country Studies:
The war was militarily inconclusive; each side held prisoners and some territory belonging to the other. Losses
were relatively heavy--on the Pakistani side, twenty
aircraft, 200 tanks, and 3,800 troops. Pakistan's army
had been able to withs х