In a pointed retaliation to the brazen massacre in Kashmir’s Pahalgam, the armed forces launched a precision operation early Wednesday, striking nine terrorist targets across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Codenamed Operation Sindoor, the defence ministry said the mission was aimed squarely at terrorist infrastructure believed to be behind the planning and execution of attacks on Indian soil.

“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,” the ministry of defence said in a statement.

Pakistan, meanwhile, has vowed to respond to the “heinous provocation” of the Indian strikes on nine sites across the border. The sites India says it attacked were spread across three locations, Pakistani authorities said.

Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the Pakistani military spokesman, said missile strikes were fired by India at Kotli, Bahawalpur and Muzaffarabad in a “cowardly attack” after midnight, The Times (London) reported.

“Let me say it unequivocally: Pakistan will respond to this at a time and place of its own choosing. This heinous provocation will not go unanswered,” Chaudhry said.

The military emphasised the operation was “focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature,” with no Pakistani military installations targeted.

“India has demonstrated considerable restraint in the selection of targets and method of execution,” the defence ministry added.

The strikes follow the brutal terrorist killing on April 22 of 26 people in Pahalgam, including 25 Indian citizens and one Nepali national. Most victims were tourists, according to initial reports — an attack the Indian government condemned as “barbaric.”

“Justice is served. Jai Hind!” the Indian Army declared in a post on X, signalling the operation’s immediate aftermath.

Following the terrorist attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced he was giving “complete operational freedom to the armed forces to decide on the mode, targets and timing of response to Pakistan.”

The last time India struck across the border was on February 26, 2019, when Indian Air Force jets carried out airstrikes on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist training camp in Balakot, Pakistan, in retaliation for the Pulwama attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel. This marked the first Indian airstrike on Pakistani soil since the 1971 war, significantly escalating tensions between the two nations. Bahawalpur is the headquarters of the JeM.

US President Donald Trump said he was not surprised by India’s attack on Pakistan. “It’s a shame. We just heard about it as we were walking in the doors of the Oval [Office],” he told reporters, adding, “I hope it ends very quickly.”

The Pakistani government said Muzaffarabad and Kotli in Pakistan-administered Kashmir had been targeted, as well as Bahawalpur in Pakistan.

A Pakistani military spokesman told Geo News broadcaster that three people have been killed — including a child — and 12 people injured, international reports said.

In parallel with the strikes, India is set to conduct a nationwide civil defence drill today, the first of its kind since 1971.

The ministry of home affairs said Monday that all states and Union Territories will participate in exercises designed to test the country’s readiness to respond to “possible” threats.

Alongside the civil defence exercise, the Indian Air Force will stage a major military operation in Rajasthan, near the Pakistan border, Wednesday and Thursday. The manoeuvres were confirmed in a notice to airmen on Tuesday.

Emergency response drills are scheduled across multiple districts, including mock evacuations and air raid siren trials. Officials initially described them as routine disaster management exercises, though the timing now appears more deliberate.

A senior official involved in the drills said they were part of “contingency planning in view of evolving threats,” though no direct link to Operation Sindoor was formally acknowledged.

A formal briefing by the ministry of defence is expected later on Wednesday on the strikes. The government has said that it seeks no escalation with Pakistan but insists it wants accountability for terror acts perpetrated across the border.

Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force is preparing for a sweeping show of strength along the western frontier. Aviation authorities have issued a notice to airmen, signalling large-scale IAF exercises along the international border with Pakistan.

The war games are set to begin late Wednesday and run through Friday, with the IAF displaying its full air power — from frontline Rafales and Mirage 2000s to SU-30s.