With this, action now shifts to the Mushkoh Valley where--complementing the Army's success--the Air Force carried out effective air strikes. About 3 battalions of Pakistani soldiers are still entrenched in this area, with reinforcements landing on Puma helicopters as recently as a fortnight ago.

The most crucial victory in the Batalik sub-sector came by the way of the capture of Muntho Dalo -- the crucial supply-cum-administrative camp of the intruders -- this morning. No Indian soldiers were killed in these operations.

Army spokesperson Col Bikram Singh, however, refused to link the suddenness of the resounding successes of the Indian Army in Batalik to the possibility of a gradual withdrawal byPakistani soldiers. He categorically rejected this saying: ``The enemy has been forced to fall back to its defences in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. Their defences in the intruded areas have crumbled due to relentless pressure from our troops.''

The string of successes in the past 24 hours, he said, began with the capture of Tharu Peak, north of the already captured Point 4927, by a battalion of the Bihar Regiment last night. Around the same time, soldiers from the 11 Gorkha Rifles recaptured Kokarthang and Point 4821. And a battalion of the Parachute Regiment battalion fought an intense battle to regain Point 4100. The same battalion captured Muntho Dalo this morning.

In another operation, a battalion from the Garhwal Rifles recaptured three more positions - Bumps One, Two and Three - north of point 4927.

The cumulative effect of these victories is that all the four ridgelines occupied by the Pakistani Army regulars in the Batalik area have been recaptured by the Army, Col Singh said.

Though mopping-upoperations area still on the in the area, the Army spokesman said reports from ground troops have indicated that at least 103 Pakistani soldiers have so far been killed in the Batalik area, and 60 bodies have been recovered. The troops have also spotted 30 shallow pits which are full of an unspecified number of bodies of the intruders, and several shallow graves hurriedly covered with stones. Among the significant recoveries from this area is a Stinger missile, loaded in its launcher.

Highly placed sources told The Indian Express that all the Pakistani soldiers fighting in the Batalik area were from the 5 Northern Light Infantry Regiment. The sources also said that Naik Imtiaz Ahmed of the same battalion, who is the only POW taken by the Army so far, has confirmed this and that Muntho Dalo was the battalion headquarters of these regiments, as well as the administrative base for all operations in this area. And one company each of the 5 NLI was based in Jubar Hills, Khalubar Ridge, Point 4100 andTharu.

In the Drass sub-sector, a battalion of the Jat Regiment recaptured Pimple-2, south-west of Tiger Hill, while soldiers from the Naga Regiment captured a mortar position of the intruders.

Air Force spokesperson Group Captain D.N. Ganesh said Mirage-2000s attacked supply camps running along a rivulet close to the LoC. The same aircraft then bombed Point 4388 south wards of these supply camps.

In Operation Vijay, 661 enemy soldiers have been killed so far, while India has lost 321 of its personnel. Another personnel are wounded, while 10 morew are missing in action.

Quoting reliable information, the Army spokesman added that Pakistan Army had issued orders for withdrawal of identity cards and other documents from soldiers still operating in the pockets of intrusion in the Kargil Sector ``to obviate our obtaining additional evidence of the Pakistan Army's full-fledged involvement in this misadventure.''

He said it has been established beyond doubt that intrusions were made by the Pakistan Armysupported by Chitral and Bijaur scouts.