New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Saturday struck eight military sites in Pakistan, including radar units and ammunition dumps, with air-launched precision weapons, in response to the neighbouring military’s strikes on India’s military infrastructure and civilian areas using fighter jets, unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), and missiles, two officers said at a special briefing on Operation Sindoor.
This was the fourth round of briefing on Operation Sindoor — India’s direct military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
“India’s military strikes early on Saturday were a response to the escalatory and provocative actions of Pakistan, which is engaged in a wanton campaign of targeting civilians in J&K and Punjab,” India’s foreign secretary Vikram Misri, who was a part of the briefing, said.
The IAF carried out precision strikes only on identified military targets in Rafiqui, Murid, Chaklala, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur, Chunian, Pasrur, and Sialkot, as tensions between the two countries escalated following Pakistan’s latest strikes. “The targets hit by India included technical infrastructure, command and control centres, radar sites, and weapon storage areas,” Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, one of the officers, said.
Pakistan’s pattern of targeting civilian infrastructure continued in the early hours of Saturday. “Pakistani military continued with its provocations, carrying out aggressive actions employing multiple threat vectors all along the western border. It employed UCAVs, drones, long-range weapons, loitering munitions and fighter jets to target civilian areas and military infrastructure. It also resorted to air intrusions using drones and fired heavy calibre weapons along the LoC,” Col Qureshi added.
{{/usCountry}}Pakistan’s pattern of targeting civilian infrastructure continued in the early hours of Saturday. “Pakistani military continued with its provocations, carrying out aggressive actions employing multiple threat vectors all along the western border. It employed UCAVs, drones, long-range weapons, loitering munitions and fighter jets to target civilian areas and military infrastructure. It also resorted to air intrusions using drones and fired heavy calibre weapons along the LoC,” Col Qureshi added.
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At 5am on Saturday, Pakistani forces launched multiple Baykar YIHA III kamikaze drones across the International Border (IB) towards Amritsar, in a brazen attempt to strike populated residential areas, people aware of the matter said.
Pakistan attempted multiple air intrusions using drones along the Line of Control (LoC) and fired heavy-calibre artillery guns at civilian infrastructure that killed some civilians. “Heavy exchange of artillery, mortar and small-arms fire in Kupwara, Baramulla, Poonch, Rajouri and Akhnoor sectors continued. The Indian Army has responded effectively and proportionately, causing extensive damage to Pakistan Army,” Col Qureshi said.
The Pakistani forces targeted a raft of air bases in Punjab with missiles after 1.40am, the officer said, adding that Medicare centres and schools at three air bases in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) were hit too.
The night-long developments marked the fiercest clash between the two militaries since India launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of May 7.
On Friday, India hit back at Pakistan after Pakistani armed drone strikes at 26 locations in J&K, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Gujarat. Drones were sighted across a wide arc of locations — ranging from Baramulla and Srinagar in the north to Bhuj in the west — along both the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC).
“Air intrusions were attempted from Srinagar to Naliya in Gujarat at more than 26 locations. Indian armed forces successfully neutralised these threats and majority of the vectors. However, limited damage was sustained to equipment and personnel at IAF stations at Udhampur, Pathankot, Adampur and Bhuj,” Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, the second officer, said.
The Pakistani military has been observed moving troops to forward areas. “They have also attempted to execute a continued malicious misinformation campaign claiming the destruction of Indian S-400 systems at Adampur, airfields at Suratgarh and Sirsa, a BrahMos base at Nagrota, an ammunition dump in Chandigarh, and artillery gun positions in a forward area,” Col Qureshi said.
Pakistan had also targeted 36 locations inside India on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday with 300 to 400 Turkish-origin armed drones and used civilian airliners as a shield to attack military sites, prompting New Delhi to strike Islamabad’s air defence systems at four places.
Qureshi said that Indian armed forces “remain in a high state of operational readiness. All hostile actions have been effectively countered and responded appropriately. While carrying out these responses, India ensured minimum collateral damage.”
Misri also debunked Pakistan’s claims about destroying or damaging military installations, critical infrastructure, and power and cyber systems.