March 16, 2015: Sometime in 2010, or earlier, Pakistan’s SSG (Special Services Group) created Border Action Teams (or BAT) for use against Indian troops guarding the Kashmir border. India first brought attention to the BAT in 2013 when they openly accused these commando units of collaborating with or supervising Islamic terrorists trained in Pakistan carrying out attacks along the border on Indian troops. Some of these attacks took place on the Indian side of the border although most consisted of firing from the Pakistani side at Indian troops just across the border. As of early 2013 India believed BAT was responsible for nearly 200 attacks along the border since 2010. According to India there were 91 BAT attacks in 2012, 51 in 2011 and 44 in 2010. India has told Pakistan that if the BAT activities continued India would consider it a violation of the ceasefire agreement between the two countries and that could lead to military retaliation from India. The SSG is Pakistan’s primary special operations unit and operates under direct orders of the military high command.

With BAT Pakistan created an organization that used a combination of special operations troops and volunteers from Islamic terrorist groups based in Pakistani Kashmir. BAT was trained and organized to carry out what often amounts to suicide missions just across the border into India. The BAT teams sometimes organize attacks that involve some men firing from inside Pakistan while others cross into India to attack from there. These attacks are increasingly directed at Indian patrols along the border and often involve planting some mines along the paths Indian patrols take. Pakistan denies the existence of BAT but India has interrogated enough captured Islamic terrorists from Pakistan to confirm that BAT is real and still in business. Pakistan continues to deny BAT exists and blames all the border incidents on Indian troops firing first.