With Operation Sindoor, India has targeted nine terror hubs deep inside Pakistan, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) headquarters in Muridke and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) base in Bahawalpur. The Resistance Front (TRF) terror outfit that took responsibility for the Pahalgam attack is an offshoot of the LeT.
Strikes were carried out not just in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), but across Pakistan. This operation was aptly named (Sindoor being the symbol of married women) to avenge the brutal killing of Indian men (mostly Hindus) in front of their wives. Pakistan has reportedly begun retaliatory action and closed its airspace. Heavy crossfire is being reported along the Line of Control.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held discussions with the chiefs of the Indian Army, Air Force, and Navy, according to sources cited by news agency ANI. The high-level interaction followed India’s ‘Operation Sindoor’, which targeted nine terror sites in Pakistan and PoK.
Meanwhile, in global reaction, U.S. President Donald Trump said, “We just heard about it. We were walking into the doors of the Oval (office). I guess people knew something was going to happen. They have been fighting for a long time.” The US State Department stated that Secretary Marco Rubio held talks with the national security advisors of both India and Pakistan, urging them to maintain open channels of communication and take steps to prevent further escalation.
Reuven Azar, Israeli Ambassador to India, said in a post on Twitter that Israel “supports India’s right for self defense”, adding that “Terrorists should know there’s no place to hide from their heinous crimes against the innocent”.
The attacks were reportedly conducted at 1:44 am IST, according to media reports.
Reacting to the strikes, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared that his country has “every right to respond forcefully to this act of war,” asserting that the Pakistani armed forces and people “know how to deal with the enemy” and will not let them succeed in India’s so-called nefarious goals.
India’s strikes come just ahead of a nationwide civil defence mock drill, set to be conducted across 244 districts to prepare for potential hostile attacks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to relentlessly pursue those behind the assault and its planning, promising to punish them “beyond their imagination” and “to the ends of the earth.”
India said in a statement, “Altogether, nine (9) sites have been targeted. Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution.”
In response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives, India carried out precision strikes on nine terror targets located in Pakistan and PoK. The targets included:
- JeM camp at Markaz Subhan Allah, Bahawalpur
- LeT facility in Muridke
- Gulpur base
- LeT camp in Sawai
- JeM launchpad at Bilal Camp
- LeT site in Kotli
- Barnala training camp
- JeM base in Sarjal
- Hizbul Mujahideen training camp, Mehmoona near Sialkot
According to reports, close to 70 terrorists and three civilians were killed in Operation Sindoor. India has used Rafale jets armed with SCALP cruise missiles and HAMMER precision-guided munitions to hit these targets.
