Tiger Hill (also called Point 5062) is a mountain in the Drass-Kargil area of

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is one of the highest peaks in the area and was the subject of a battle during the 1999

Kargil War The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referr ...

Strategic relevance

Since Tiger Hill is the highest peak in the sector, it overlooks National Highway 1D, a road that connects Srinagar to

Kargil Kargil ( lbj, ) is a city and a joint capital of the union territory of Ladakh, India. It is also the headquarters of the Kargil district. It is the second-largest city in Ladakh after Leh. Kargil is located to the east of Srinagar in Jam ...

, and is the main supply route of the Kargil sector. Any enemy atop the peak would have a direct line of sight onto the headquarters of India's 56 Brigade, the main Indian unit in the area, and as well as a 25 km stretch of highway, thus hindering the movement of troops and supplies. The peak also offered a surveillance point onto other nearby peaks.

Battle

Tiger Hill was illegally captured by elements of the Pakistan Army's

Northern Light Infantry The Northern Light Infantry Regiment (NLI) is a light infantry regiment in the Pakistan Army, based and currently headquartered in Gilgit, Pakistan. Along with other forces of the Pakistani military, the NLI has the primary responsibility of con ...

during Kargil War. The 8th battalion,

Sikh Regiment The Sikh Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. Sikh regiment is the highest decorated regiment of the Indian Army and in 1979, the 1st battalion was the Commonwealth's most decorated battalion with 245 pre-independence and 8 ...

(8 Sikh) attempted to regain Tiger Hill in late May 1999, but they were unsuccessful. Further attempts to regain were also repulsed, and Indian troops dug in around the hill. The final attempt began on 3 July at 17:15 with an artillery bombardment. 8 Sikh advanced up the left flank of the mountain, the 2nd Battalion,

Naga Regiment The Naga Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It is among the youngest regiments of the Indian Army - the first battalion was raised in Ranikhet, Kumaon in 1970. The regiment recruits mainly from Nagaland, in northeast India. Hi ...

(2 Naga) advanced up the right flank, and 200 troops from the Ghatak platoon, Alpha and Charlie Companies of the 18th Battalion,

The Grenadiers The Grenadiers is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army, formerly part of the Bombay Army and later the pre-independence British Indian Army, when the regiment was known as the 4th Bombay Grenadiers. It has distinguished itself during the tw ...

(18 Grenadiers) scaled a 1,000-foot vertical cliff on the rear side of the mountain. After days of heavy fighting on the peak, 18 Grenadiers seized the mountaintop on the morning of 8 July.

References

{{Ladakh Geography of Ladakh Kargil district Five-thousanders of the Himalayas