CDS, service chiefs watched Op Sindoor unfold in ops room

The Indian strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and PoK began at 1.04am and were over in 23 minutes

The chief of defence staff (CDS) and the three service chiefs watched Operation Sindoor --- New Delhi’s muscular military response to the Pahalgam terror strike --- unfold in an operations room shortly after 1am on May 7, new images showed on Monday.

The Indian Army in its in-house magazine released photos of the service chiefs monitoring Operation Sindoor on May 7. Pictured here are army chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi and army vice chief Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani. (ANI)

The photos were published by the Indian Army in the May edition of its monthly publication Baatcheet.

They showed CDS General Anil Chauhan, army chief General Upendra Dwivedi, the chief of the air staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, navy chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi and other top officials monitoring the developments via live feed on multiple big screens in the army’s operations room in South Block.

Chauhan, Dwivedi and Tripathi were in battle fatigues, while Singh was in his flying overalls.

The time stamp on one of the photos read: 7 May 25, 0105 hours.

The Indian strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) began at 1.04am and were over in 23 minutes.

Those present in the operations room included the army’s vice chief Lieutenant General NS Raja Subramani and the director general of military operations Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai.

This month’s issue of Baatcheet is dedicated to Operation Sindoor.

The images published in the monthly magazine capture the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, the PM giving a free hand to the armed forces, the targets struck by the army and the Indian Air Force (IAF), the global support for the country, and the role of air defence in countering the Pakistani attacks on military installations and cities.

It also features photos of Lieutenant Colonel Harsh Gupta and Havildar Surinder Singh, who designed the logo of Operation Sindoor.

The operation sparked four days of strikes and counterstrikes with drones, missiles, long-range weapons and heavy artillery before the two sides reached an understanding on stopping all military action on May 10.

Between the launch of the operation and the ceasefire, Indian forces bombed nine terror camps in Pakistan and PoK, killing at least 100 terrorists, and the IAF struck targets at 13 Pakistani airbases and military installations.

The nine terror camps hit by the Indian forces with a mix of missiles and smart munitions included Markaz Subhanallah in Bahawalpur, Markaz Taiba near Muridke, Mehmoona Joya in Sialkot, Sawai Nala and Syed Na Bilal in Muzaffarabad, Gulpur and Abbas in Kotli, Barnala in Bhimber, and Sarjal.

The targets in Bahawalpur and Muridke were hit by the IAF; the rest were struck by the army.

The IAF also struck military targets in Rafiqui, Murid, Chaklala, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur, Chunian, Pasrur, Sialkot, Skardu, Sargodha, Jacobabad, Bholari and Malir Cantt in Karachi.

In one of the counterstrikes on the night of May 7-8, Islamabad launched aerial attacks using drones and missiles at multiple towns and cities, including Awantipora, Srinagar, Jammu, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bathinda, Chandigarh, Pathankot, Phalodi, Suratgarh, Uttarlai, Nal and Bhuj.

India’s air defence shield fended off the attacks.