 "LeT headquarters Markaz Taiba in Pakistan's Muridke. It was one of terrorist hubs targeted in Operation Sindoor")
India launched 25-minute “measured and non-escalatory” missile and drone strikes in the early hours of Wednesday, targeting nine terrorist camps across Pakistan’s Punjab province and Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK), officials said. The joint land and air operation — dubbed Operation Sindoor — marked the first Indian strikes in Pakistan’s Punjab since the 1971 war.
The targets, Indian officials said, were camps associated with proscribed terror groups Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Hizbul Mujahideen. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the operation was an exercise of India’s “Right to Respond” following the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam which had cross-border links.
According to the estimates of a person in the know, 70 to 80 terrorists were killed. Among the dead were 10 family members of JeM chief Masood Azhar, including his sister, nephew, and nieces. Four associates of Azhar — one of the terrorists India had released after the IC814 hijacking in 1999 — also died in a strike on the group’s headquarters at Markaz Subhan in Bahawalpur.
Pakistan responded with artillery shelling in Poonch and Tangdhar, causing deaths of 15 “innocent civilians” and injuries to 43 others, Indian military officials said. Victims included women and children taking shelter in a Poonch gurudwara.
Soon after the strikes, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval briefed his counterparts, including American NSA and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the UK’s Jonathan Powell, Saudi Arabia’s Musaid Al Aiban, the UAE’s H H Sheikh Tahnoon, and Japan’s Masataka Okano about India’s response against the terror infrastructure in Pakistan and that India had no intent to escalate tensions but is prepared to "retaliate resolutely" if Pakistan does so, an official said. Contact was also established with Russian NSA Sergei Shoigu, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, and Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic adviser to the French president.
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At a 10.30 am press briefing, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri appeared alongside Colonel Sophia Qureshi of the Army’s Corps of Signals and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh of the Indian Air Force. Misri said India carried out the “proportionate” strikes to bring the perpetrators and planners of the April 22 Pahalgam attack to justice as there was “no demonstrable step” from Pakistan to act against terrorist infrastructure on territories under its control.
Col Qureshi detailed that the operation commenced at 1.05 am and was completed in 25 minutes. A total of 24 precision strikes were carried out at nine identified terrorist hubs. Targets in PoJK included Hafiz Saeed-led LeT’s Sawai Nala and JeM’s Syedna Belal camps in Muzaffarabad; LeT’s Gulpur and Abbas camps in Kotli; and the Barnala camp in Bhimber.
In Pakistan proper, strikes hit Sarjal and Hizbul Mujahideen’s Mehmoona Joya camps in Sialkot; the LeT’s Markaz Taiba headquarters in Muridke; and the JeM’s Markaz Subhan base in Bahawalpur.
Col Qureshi said the operation was designed to “deliver justice” to the 26 Pahalgam terrorist attack victims. Wing Commander Singh said the strikes were undertaken through precision capability, using “niche technology weapons” with careful selection of warheads that ensured no collateral damage. “The point of impact in each of the targets was a specific building or a group of buildings,” she said, adding that no military establishments were targeted.
Misri underscored that by conducting Operation Sindoor, India “exercised its right to respond and pre-empt as well as deter” more cross-border attacks like the one at Pahalgam. “Our intelligence monitoring of Pakistan-based terrorist modules indicated that further attacks against India were impending,” said the foreign secretary.
The briefing began with a video montage of past terrorist attacks, including Parliament in 2001, Mumbai in 2008, and Pulwama in 2019, linked to Pakistan-based groups.
The name “Operation Sindoor” refers to the vermillion worn by Hindu married women. In the Pahalgam attack, husbands of several women were killed in front of them, including an Indian Navy officer. Misri referred to the UN Security Council’s press statement, issued on April 25 in response to the terrorist attack, which said: “The need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice.”
The government identified The Resistance Front, a front for the UN-sanctioned LeT, as the group behind the April 22 killings. “Identification of the attackers, based on eyewitness accounts, as well as other information available to law enforcement agencies, has also progressed. Our intelligence has developed an accurate picture of the planners and backers of this team,” Misri stressed.
He noted that Pakistan has been known to wilfully mislead the world on its homegrown terrorism. “The Sajid Mir case, in which this terrorist was declared dead and then, in response to international pressure, brought back to life, found alive and arrested, is the most glaring example,” he said.
The primary objective of the attack was to provoke communal discord, both in Jammu & Kashmir and the rest of the nation, the foreign secretary said.
Defence Minister Singh, speaking later at the Border Roads Organisation’s 66th Raising Day, said the strikes were carefully calibrated. “It (the action) was limited only to the camps and other infrastructure used for training terrorists, with the aim of breaking their morale,” he said. Government sources added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had closely monitored 'Operation Sindoor', which he also named.
A little after Misri’s briefing, the Union Cabinet hailed the Indian armed forces for successful strikes. Modi later met President Droupadi Murmu. His planned tour to Croatia, Norway and the Netherlands, scheduled for May 13–17, was cancelled amid escalating tensions, according to official sources.
The Opposition praised the armed forces’ “bold and decisive” action. An all-party meeting is scheduled for Thursday.
In Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the country reserves the right to respond to what he called an “act of war.” Its Defence Minister Khawaja Asif struck a more conciliatory tone, stating Islamabad is open to “wrap up” tensions if India reciprocates. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry described the strikes as “unprovoked,” alleging violations of sovereignty through standoff weapons. The Pakistan Army reported at least 26 were killed and 46 were injured.
In Washington, US President Donald Trump expressed hope the conflict would de-escalate quickly. “It’s a shame,” he said, “I just hope it ends very quickly.” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged “maximum military restraint.” Russia voiced concern over the military escalation. The UK, UAE, and China also called for calm, with Beijing offering to play a “constructive role.”
India’s Defence Ministry formally announced Operation Sindoor 15 minutes after it concluded, calling it “focused, measured and non-escalatory.” It emphasised that no Pakistani military assets were targeted and said the Indian forces exercised “considerable restraint” in both target selection and execution.
Meanwhile, the Railway Ministry, according to a PTI report, warned employees on May 6 against possible espionage attempts by Pakistani agencies seeking military train movements.
Media reports said Pakistan Army personnel and members of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah (linked to the LeT) attended funerals of three individuals killed in the Muridke strikes.
Across India, social media buzzed with tributes to the Pahalgam victims. The civil defence mock drills proceeded as planned, and security was heightened at key installations.
The US and UK embassies in New Delhi issued advisories against travel to Jammu & Kashmir. China warned its citizens to avoid “conflict zones” in India, and Canada advised citizens to exercise a “high degree of caution in India due to threat of terrorist strikes”.
Inputs from Subhayan Chakraborty, Archis Mohan & Agencies
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