Incremental Post 1

Perpetrator

The perpetrator was identified as Adil Ahmad Dar (alias Adil Ahmad Gaadi Takranewala or Waqas Commando), a 22-year old from Kakapora.^[23] According to Dar's parents, Dar became radicalized after he was beated by Indian police.^[28][29] Between September 2016 and March 2018, Adil Dar was reportedly arrested six times by Indian authorities.^[30][31]However, each time he was released without any charges.^[30]

At around 5:30 a.m. on 18 September, four militants attacked an Indian Army brigade headquarters in Uri, near the Line of Control in a pre-dawn ambush. They were said to have lobbed 17 grenades in three minutes. As a rear administrative base camp with tents caught fire, 17 army personnel were killed during the attack. An additional 19-30 soldiers were reported to have been injured. A gun battle ensued lasting six hours, during which all the four militants were killed.^{[4][6][22][23][24]} Combing operations continued to flush out additional terrorists thought to be alive.^[10]

Most of the soldiers killed were from the 10th battalion, Dogra Regiment (10 Dogra) and 6th battalion, Bihar Regiment (6 Bihar).^[24] One of the injured soldiers succumbed to his injuries on 19 September at RR Hospital in New Delhi, followed by another soldier on 24 September, bringing the death toll to 19.^[2][3][25]

The casualties were primarily believed to have occurred as a result of non-fire retardant transition tents. This was the time of a troops shift, whereby troops from 6 Bihar were replacing troops from 10 Dogra. The incoming troops were housed in tents, which are normally avoided in sensitive areas around the LOC like Uri. The attackers sneaked into the camp breaching heavy security and seemed to know exactly where to strike. Seven of the personnel killed were support staff, including cooks and barbers.^[26][27]