Islamabad, Nov. 18: Eleven years after the Kargil War, the Pakistan Army which has been denying its role in the conflict has quietly included the names of 453 soldiers and officers in the battle on its website.
Proof of the involvement of regular Pakistani soldiers in the 1999 Kargil War over a string of strategic heights in the Kargil sector of the Line of Control in 1999 has come from an institution that spent years denying its role in the hostilities with India — the Pakistan Army.
The 453 Pakistani soldiers were shown killed in Batalik-Kargil sector in Jammu and Kashmir.
The names of those who died in Kargil are tucked away in a list of thousands of personnel killed while on duty that has been posted in the “Shuhada's Corner” (Martyr’s Corner) of the website.
The very first page of the list of martyrs includes the names of Capt Karnal Sher and Havildar Lalak Jan, who were both killed on July 7, 1999, in Kargil and awarded Pakistan's highest military award, the Nishan-e-Haider.
During the Kargil conflict and in subsequent years, the Pakistan Army insisted that none of its soldiers were involved in the hostilities.