Kargil order of battle

US Navy map of Kargil, 2008.

The Kargil war order of battle (KWORBAT), is a deposition and systematic combatant structure of the Indian Army troops and the unified Pakistan Armed Forces combat commands, active in the region in 1999. The Indian Army orbat is based on the publications provided by the Indian military authors, news media and official sources.

The Pakistan orbat is based on the intelligence information provided by the Pakistani media (both electronic and print media), military authors, and Pakistani documentaries made after the conflict. The Pakistan orbat does not include the separatist fighters who claimed by India to be also involved in fighting atop the peaks of Kargil, however, this claim has been strongly dismissed by the senior military commanders of Pakistan armed forces command, quoting that "all soldiers were the active duty personnel of the [Pakistan] armed forces.^[1]

Indian Orbat

Indian Army

Northern Command

• XV Corps
• XV Corps Artillery Brigade
• HQ 8 Mountain Division (ex Sharifabad, Valley)
• 8 Mountain Artillery Brigade (division artillery)
• 121(Independent) Infantry Brigade Group
  • 16 Grenadiers
  • 4 Jat
  • 3 Punjab
  • 10 Garhwal
  • BSF battalion
  • Det 17 Guards (ATGM)
• 56 Mountain Brigade (Matayan) (part of division)
  • 16 Grenadiers
  • 18 Grenadiers
  • 8 Sikh
  • 1 Naga
  • 2 Raj Rif
  • 18 Garhwal
  • 13 JAK Rif
  • 1/3 GR
  • 9 Para
  • Det 17 Guards (ATGM)
• 50 (Independent) Parachute Brigade (ex Army HQ Reserves)
  • 6 Para
  • 7 Para
  • 1 Para
  • Det 19 Guards (ATGM)
• 192 Mountain Brigade (part of division)
  • 18 Grenadiers
  • 8 Sikh
  • 9 Para
  • Det 17 Guards (ATGM)
• 79 Mountain Brigade (Dras) (part of division)
  • 17 Jat
  • 28 RR
  • 12 Mahar
  • 13 JAK Rif
  • 2 Naga

3 Infantry Division (Leh)

• 3 Artillery Brigade (divisional artillery)
• 70 Infantry Brigade Group (ex Demchok, China border) (regularly assigned to division)
  • 1/11 GR
  • 12 JAK LI
  • 10 Para
  • 1 Bihar
  • Ladakh Scouts
  • 17 Garhwal
  • 5 Para
  • 14 Sikh
  • Det 19 Guards (ATGM)
• 102 (Independent) Infantry Brigade Group (Shyok River Valley) (normally under command 3 Division)
  • 11 Raj Rif
  • 9 Mahar
  • 13 Kumaon
  • 27 Rajput
  • Det High Altitude Warfare School Permanent Cadre
  • Det 19 Guards (ATGM)

Kargil Theatre Artillery (these units took part in the war serving under various formations)

• • 4 Field Regiment
  • 15 Field Regiment
  • 41 Field Regiment
  • 108 Medium Regiment
  • 139 Medium Regiment
  • 141 Field Regiment
  • 153 Medium Regiment
  • 158 Medium Regiment
  • 197 Field Regiment
  • 212 Rocket Regiment
  • 244 Heavy Mortar Regiment
  • 253 Medium Regiment
  • 255 Field Regiment
  • 286 Medium Regiment
  • 305 Medium Regiment
  • 307 Medium Regiment
  • 315 Field Regiment
  • 1861 Light Regiment
  • 1889 Light Regiment

Other battalions^[2]

• • 5 Special Frontier Force
  • 663 Reconnaissance & Observation Squadron
  • 668 Reconnaissance & Observation Squadron
  • 13 Punjab
  • 12 Grenadiers
  • 22 Grenadiers
  • 7 Jat (may have been mistaken)
  • 14 Sikh LI (may have been mistaken)
  • 9 Rashtriya Rifles
  • 14 Rashtriya Rifles
  • 17 Rashtriya Rifles
  • 11 Sikh
  • 3 JAK Rif
  • 16 Dogra
  • 5 Rajput
  • 9 Mahar

Indian Air Force

Apart from the involvement of the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force (IAF) also participated in the Kargil War as part of Operation Safed Sagar.

Pakistan orbat

Initially, the Kargil order of battle was planned by the Directorate-General for Military Operaions (DGMO) Brigadier-General Nadeem Ahmed. However, after the IAF strike and Indian advancement in the region, the PAF and the Navy deployed and issued orders to their combat forces. Their missions were to conduct surveillance and air patrolling; no other combat units of PAF and Navy participated in the combat. The inter-services order of battle is mentioned in the table. According to the Pakistan news channels reports and military declassified information, the Kargil infiltration was comprehensively planned by the joint officers at the Joint staff Headquarters, a joint office secretariat which then-served under General Musharraf.

From the starting of the conflict, there were numerous inter-services meeting coordinated by the chairman joint chiefs, to Prime minister Nawaz Sharif. The controversy still surrounds in the military science circle of the Pakistan armed forces, with chief of naval staff and chief of air staff including key theatre commanders of army combatant corps, levelling up the accusations that the Kargil front was launched without their knowledge or confidence.

Army formation

• Notes: The confusion still remains in Pakistan Army on how many actual army corps and units fought in the Kargil war. In 2013 television interview to Capital Talk programme of Geo News , Colonel Ashfaq Hussain maintained that "not the entire army was fully informed; only few independent army units, assisted by special forces, were active in the area." It is confirmed that all personnel were the active-duty members of the Pakistan army. According to Kargil theatre commander Lt. Gen. Shahid Aziz, no foreign elements were active in fight against the Indian army.
  • 5 NLI battalion
  • 6 NLI battalion
  • 12 NLI battalion^[3]
  • 13 NLI battalion
  • 24 SIND^[4]
  • 27 SIND

PAF formation

• Note: No PAF F-16s took active participation in the conflict. All PAF missions were to conduct Combat air patrol in the area.
  • No. 38 Multirole Group
  • No. 9 Squadron Griffins and No. 11 Squadron Arrows.
    • • The F-16s belonging to Griffins Arrows were deployed in the region.^[5] No F-16s took active participation in the conflict.^[6]

Navy formation

• Note: No Navy units took active participation. The Navy was on high-alert but strictly ordered by Admiral Bokhari to not to escalate the crises into sea. Although, Navy had its own significance in the Kargil theatre, but no crucial operations and efforts were applied or undertaken by Navy to support the army. According to the chief of naval staff, General Musharraf, as chairman joint chiefs, had failed to take navy in confidence prior to the starting of the conflict.
  • Pakistan Navy Commander Karachi^[7]
  • Pakistan Naval Air Arm
    • The Pakistan Navy, in a defensive mood, directed all its units to keep clear of Indian naval ships. As the exercise shifted closer to the Makaran Coast, Pakistan moved all its major combatants out of Karachi. The Navy remained high-alert, although orders were not to escalate the crises to sea. The Navy launched surveillance operations; Karachi port remains high-alert.^[8]

References

27 Sind

Sources

• Indian Army – Kargil War 1999 v.2.0 8 March 2006 Mandeep S. Bajwa & Ravi Rikhye
• Kargil Committee Report Executive Summary