New Delhi, June 18 :     The Indian army and air force have now begun a meticulously planned operation to strike at the root of the Kargil hostilities ? the supply lines from the Pakistani side that continue to add to both manpower and ammunition stocks of the enemy. For this, they need not cross the Line of Control. Now that they have more information on the ground situation, they can attack the temporary supply bases functioning within the Indian LoC and also shell the permanent supply depots in and around Skardu in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. It was not just the artillery which today successfully shelled one of these supply depots near Skardu. Even the air force has done its bit to cut off some of these vital survival links for the intruders. Now the air force is claiming substantial success for its operations in the Muntho Dalo region to the extreme north of Batalik (but within the Indian LoC) over the past three days. Some reports suggest many infiltrators have died in the region. Once the ground troops move further north and move up the ridges in enemy occupation, they will get to know the degree of damage done through bombardment. Muntho Dalo, virtually on the LoC, has been one of the key intrusion points for Mujahideen raiders. It was here that they had persisted with their diligent build-up of supplies and manpower for several months. The exercise had gone unnoticed by Indian intelligence agencies and patrol parties. To recapture Batalik sub-sector in its entirety, it is necessary to clean out the depots and dumps in Muntho Dalo. This is why the air force had been pounding this particular base station of the infiltrators for more than 72 hours. Today, the air force concentrated on reconnaissance and preliminary reports, indicating that the target has been softened up. The barrage of artillery gunfire from the Indian side today did not miss a Skardu target and successfully landed on a camp killing five Pakistani regulars, including a major. There are several such encampments in the area and artillery firepower will have to be accurate before the army can claim to have successfully evicted infiltrators from Batalik and Drass. Wireless intercepts identified the major killed in Skardu as Major Suhail. On the other hand, Indian troops are on the verge of making the final assault on Peak 5140 in Drass. This is another key height overlooking National Highway 1A, from where shelling Indian convoys becomes easy. A flow of more accurate information on enemy positions is helping Indian forces to plan strategy. Initially, Indians soldiers were clambering up like a confused lot with little idea of where to expect gunfire from. Now they are moving in to occupy heights only after a proper appraisal of enemy positions. The intruders perched on the ridges are also getting wind of Indian movements and they, too, are shifting their positions in a limited zone. In the Mushkoh Valley sector, where such information is not available in great detail, the army has been more cautious and has not yet mounted a very big offensive as in Drass and Batalik. Such intelligence has also helped in minimising casualties. With the foreign media running stories ? quoting unnamed sources ? of at least 400 Indian jawans killed, the Indian army establishment has been at pains to emphasise that they were not fudging numbers. Today, army spokesperson Colonel Vikram Singh said that there was no question of playing down the death count because the Indian army was ?accountable to the jawans? families and could not conceal facts?. But they admitted that getting down bodies of slain intruders was not too important at the moment. A substantial percentage of the bodies had been carted away by retreating Pakistani regulars. There are others lying on the peaks, or tucked away in crevices, but ?our priority now cannot be salvaging them,? Col Singh said. Highway explosion: A powerful Improvised Explosive Device planted by militants on the Srinagar-Kargil Highway hit an army vehicle this morning, killing five soldiers, including a major, on the spot, and seriously wounding 10 jawans. This was followed by another blast severely damaged two army vehicles. The injured were airlifted to Srinagar Base Hospital, police said. Six persons were in a critical condition.