New Delhi: In a swift and coordinated blitz lasting just 25 minutes, India carried out its most expansive cross-border strikes since Balakot, targeting nine terror facilities in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) early on Wednesday, military officials said.
Codenamed Operation Sindoor, the strikes involved air, naval, and ground-based assets and were launched under the cover of darkness in response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 civilians.
More than 80 terrorists linked to banned outfits Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Hizbul Mujahideen were killed in the precision strikes, top sources said. The military action was measured, and the targets were selected based on credible intel, the government said at a briefing.
The government said the military action was measured and the targets were selected based on credible intel. Here are the major takeaways...
• India maintained that only terror hideouts, and no Pakistani military installations, were targeted. "Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature... India has demonstrated considerable restraint in the selection of targets and method of execution," the government said in a statement.
According to satellite images, Indian airstrikes inflicted heavy damage on Pakistan's terrorist training and recruitment centres, particularly the Jaish-e-Mohammad training center at Markaz Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur. (Photo courtesy: X@BJP4India)
• According to senior officials, the two biggest strikes were conducted in JeM stronghold Bahawalpur and Muridke, killing an estimated 25–30 terrorists at each site. In Muridke, the target was Masjid wa Markaz Taiba, the LeT's nerve centre and ideological headquarters, long considered the "terror nursery" of Pakistan.
• Other JeM-linked locations targeted included Sarjal at Tehra Kalan, Markaz Abbas in Kotli, and Syedna Bilal camp in Muzaffarabad. Markaz Ahle Hadith in Barnala and Shwawai Nalla camp in Muzaffarabad — both tied to the LeT – were also struck. Hizbul Mujahideen training centres Makaz Raheel Shahid in Kotli and Mehmoona Joya in Sialkot were among the other targets.
India has annihilated 9 terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Pakistan. From Bahawalpur to Muzaffarabad, these camps weren’t hidden; they were nurtured under the watch of the Pakistani state. (Graphic courtesy: X@BJP4India)
• Four of the nine sites were located inside Pakistan, while the remaining five were in POK. Sources said elements of the Pakistani Army, ISI, and Special Services Group (SSG) were allegedly involved in supporting the terrorist training infrastructure.
• Pakistan said more than 30 civilians were killed and 46 others were injured in the missile strikes. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif termed the assault a "blatant act of war" and said his country has every right to give a "befitting reply."
• Following the strikes, Pakistan launched heavy cross-border shelling along the Line of Control and International Border in Jammu and Kashmir, to which Indian forces responded in kind. Officials said a soldier and 15 civilians were killed in heavy artillery fire and mortar shelling by Pakistani troops.
• The government has ordered the evacuation of civilians from villages along the LoC into bunkers following cross-border firing and shelling by Pakistani forces, sources said. Home Minister Amit Shah is in constant touch with the Director General of the BSF, J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, and also spoke on the phone with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
