The Indian Army struck nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as retaliation to the terror attack in Pahalgam. The military strikes were carried out under 'Operation Sindoor', the Indian Army said in a statement released at 1.44 am.
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Hindustan Times spoke to top officials who were constantly monitoring the operation. The officials said that the action is ongoing and Indian fighter jets are still in the air. The targets included the headquarters of Lashkar-e-Taiba in Muridke and the Jaish-e-Mohammad headquarters in Bahawalpur. The officials also revealed that the armed forces used beyond visual range as well as standoff weapons to carry out the operation.
Standoff cruise missiles were also used in the operation, the officials said.
Hindustan Times later learnt that precision strike weapon systems of the three forces, Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force, were used in the attacks, including the loitering munitions.
The coordinates for the attacks on terrorist camps inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir were provided by the intelligence agencies. The attacks were carried out from Indian soil only.
India said in a statement that the operation targeted terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed.
{{/usCountry}}India said in a statement that the operation targeted terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed.
{{/usCountry}}“Altogether, nine (9) sites have been targeted. Our actions have been focused, measured, and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in the selection of targets and the method of execution,” the statement added.
India said that these steps came in the wake of the barbaric Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen were murdered.
“We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable. There will be detailed briefing on ‘OPERATION SINDOOR’, later today,” the statement added.
Pakistan's army said three locations had been targeted, citing two in Pakistani-occupied Kashmir and one in Bahawalpur, a city in the country's most populous province of Punjab, bordering India.
After the strikes, the Indian army said in a post on X on Wednesday: "Justice is served." Pakistan has closed its airspace for all air traffic for 48 hours.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh reacted to Operation Sindoor by sharing a post on social media platform X.
According to the Indian Army, Pakistan has violated the ceasefire along the LoC with heavy artillery fire. The armed forces are responding to the fire in a calibrated manner.
The Operation Sindoor comes after terrorists killed 26 people in Jammu Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given the armed forces full operational freedom to retaliate.