India has convulsed Pakistan with deep penetration missile strikes at marked out terror launchpads across the mainland and PoK.
Early Wednesday’s covert assault, carried out as retribution for the Pahalgam horror of April 22, is the strongest punch India has landed on mainland Pakistan since the 1971 war.
Operation Sindoor, named so by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a symbolic nod to the tourists widowed in the Pahalgam strike, involved “25 high-precision missile strikes” on nine terror hideouts in Pakistan and PoK.
The strategic pre-dawn military operation, which lasted 25 minutes from 1.10am to 1.35am, involved striking four locations within Pakistan’s territory and five targets in PoK — all linked to banned outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed and theHizbul Mujahideen.
The Indian military expects a retaliation from Pakistan’s forces. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called the strikes on Pakistani soil an “act of war” and vowed a strikeback.
Wednesday’s strikes effectively mark a return to heightened hostility, but neither India nor Pakistan has formally called off the ceasefire along the LoC — agreed upon in 2003 — although daily violations have been reported in thepast fortnight.
Government sources said Operation Sindoor was aimed at delivering justice to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and their families. The terrorists had deliberately targeted Hindu men, leaving behind widowed women and broken families.
Weapons
Neither the government nor the defence ministry has so far revealed details on the exact nature of the operation or the weapons used. The sources, however, said India employed a range of high-precision, long-range strike weapons, including the SCALP cruise missile, HAMMER precision-guided bombs andloitering munitions.
“According to information available with me, the armed forces carried out at least 25 high-precision missile strikes. The situation is still evolving and this is not the right time to share operational details, which can be used by the adversary in future,” said a defence ministry official, requesting anonymity.
The official said the nine targeted “terrorist camps” had served as recruitment centres, launchpads, indoctrination centres and sites housing weapons and training facilities.
‘Coordinated’ strike
The sources in the security establishment said the operation was planned and executed through the coordinated efforts of the army, navy and the air force and conducted from Indian territory.
“Using advanced precision weaponry and real-time intelligence, the armed forces conducted the strikes, avoiding any engagement with Pakistani military installations,” said a security official attached to the Union home ministry.
The strikes, he said, were carried out using a mix of ground-launched and air-launched missiles. “Real-time monitoring via surveillance drones allowed confirmation of target destruction with minimal civilian casualties.”
“Precision-guided munitions, including laser-designated missiles and satellite-guided glide bombs, were used to ensure high strike accuracy and avoid collateral damage. Missiles were launched from air and land platforms in a synchronised pattern, with multiple warheads striking simultaneously to neutralise the terror camps,” the security official said.
Sources in the defence ministry said the precision strikes achieved their objectives. UAV reconnaissance confirmed the destruction of command centres, training camps, arms depots and other facilities of the nine terror camps.
No official casualty figures were furnished by either side. Sources in the Indian government, however, claimed over 70 terrorists were killed and more than 60 suffered injuries.
‘Justice served’
At 1.44am on Wednesday, the defence ministry said in a statement: “A little while ago, the Indian Armed Forces launched ‘OPERATION SINDOOR’, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed.
“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….. We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable.”
“Justice is served,” the Indian Army said in a postat 1.51am.
‘Terror haven’ Pak
At a high-security media briefing in Delhi at 10.30am, foreign secretary Vikram Misri, joined by Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, described the attack as a “measured and proportionate” counter to Pakistan-based terror groups.
Flagging the attack in Pahalgam, Misri said it was marked by extreme barbarity, with the victims mostly killed with head shots from close range and in front of their families. “Family members were deliberately traumatised through the manner of the killing, accompanied by the exhortation that they should take back the message,” he said in a firm and even-toned message.
He underscored that the manner of the attack was also driven by an objective of provoking communal discord, both in Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of the country.
Misri said Pakistan was a safe haven for terrorists.
“India exercised its right to respond and pre-empt as well as deter more such cross-border attacks. These actions were measured, non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible. They focused on dismantling the terrorist infrastructure and disabling terrorists likely to be sent across to India,” he said.
“Our intelligence monitoring of Pakistan-based terrorist modules indicated that further attacks against India were impending. There was thus a compulsion both to deter and to pre-empt.”
Tanks are transported on a road in Muridke near Lahore
Later in the day, defence minister Rajnath Singh lauded the armed forces for showing “great precision, alertness and humanity”.
“The armed forces have made us proud today. No civilian was harmed during the operation. The goals of Operation Sindoor were met in totality. India used the right to respond against the Pahalgam terror attack. To break the spirits of terrorists, these actions destroyed only their camps and infrastructure,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi met President Droupadi Murmu and briefed her on Operation Sindoor.
‘Fake news’
Through the day, the government battled fake news from Pakistan. The Indian embassy in Beijing had to call out the Global Times for suggesting that Pakistan had shot down Indian jets.
Media reports quoted Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif as saying India’s attack on civilian areas “will not go unanswered” while dismissing India’s claims as “unfounded and a pack of lies”.
“Their claims of attacking terrorist camps are completely unfounded and a pack of lies. Our forces have already retaliated by shooting down five of their jets and a combat drone,” he said.
The Indian government has not reacted to the claims of jets being downed.