Operation Sindoor: India hits 9 sites in Pak, PoK used to direct terror attacks

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday carried out precision strikes on “terrorist infrastructure” at nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians two weeks ago.

The defence ministry announced early on Wednesday that the armed forces targeted sites “from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed” under the action codenamed “Operation Sindoor”.

Follow Operation Sindoor live updates

“Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature,” the defence ministry said in a statement issued at 1:44am without giving details of the targets.

“No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution,” it said.

The strikes came in the “wake of the barbaric Pahalgam terrorist attack” that killed 25 civilians and a citizen of Nepal. “We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable,” the statement said.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh said in a social media post at 2.46 am: “Bharat Mata ki jai (Long live Mother India).” About an hour earlier, the Indian Army said in a separate social media post: “#PahalgamTerrorAttack Justice is Served. Jai Hind!”

The Pakistani Prime Minister’s Office quoted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as saying that India carried out a “cowardly attack on five places”. Pakistan has “every right to give a befitting reply to this act of war imposed by India”, Sharif said.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry, in a statement, described the strikes as an “unprovoked and blatant act of war” and said Islamabad “reserves the right to respond appropriately at a time and place of its choosing”. It said the Indian Air Force (IAF) “violated Pakistan’s sovereignty using standoff weapons” while “remaining within Indian airspace”.

The strikes were carried out “across [the] international border” on Muridke and Bahawalpur – both in Punjab province - and across the Line of Control on Kotli and Muzaffarabad in PoK, the foreign ministry statement said.

Muridke, located a short distance from Lahore, is home to a sprawling “markaz” or base of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), while Bahawalpur is the main stronghold of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Kotli and Muzaffarabad are regions in PoK where both LeT and JeM have for long had camps and training facilities, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. The strikes targeted terrorist launch pads located two to six kilometres from the LoC and terrorist camps eight to 16 kilometres behind the launch pads, the people said.

The name for the action – Operation Sindoor – is a reference to the red vermillion that many Hindu women wear in their hair to signify their married status. During the Pahalgam terror attack, the husbands of several women were killed in front of them. An Indian Navy officer who was on his honeymoon days after his wedding was among them.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry claimed an unspecified number of civilians, including women and children, were killed in the strikes, which also “caused grave threat to commercial air traffic”. It added, “We strongly condemn India’s cowardly action, which is a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, international law, and established norms of inter-state relations.”

The foreign ministry reiterated Pakistan’s claims that the Pahalgam terror attack was used by India’s leadership to push a “sham narrative of victimhood” and jeopardise regional peace and security.

“India’s reckless action has brought the two nuclear-armed states closer to a major conflict,” the foreign ministry contended. Pakistan’s prime minister convened a meeting of the National Security Committee, the country’s main decision-making body on security matters that includes the service chiefs, at 10 am on Wednesday.

A statement issued by the Indian embassy in the US, however, said that the Indian has “credible leads, technical inputs, testimony of the survivors and other evidence pointing towards the clear involvement of Pakistan-based terrorists” in the Pahalgam terror attack.

“It was expected that Pakistan would take action against terrorists and the infrastructure that supports them. Instead, during the fortnight that has gone by, Pakistan has indulged in denial and made allegations of false flag operations against India,” the statement said.

Soon after the strikes, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval spoke to US NSA and secretary of state Marco Rubio and briefed him on the actions. The people cited above said senior Indian officials also briefed their counterparts in the UK, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Russia.

At the White House, US President Donald Trump described the developments as a “shame”. He added, “I guess people knew something was gonna happen, based on a little bit of the past. They’ve been fighting for a long time...Now, I just hope it ends very quickly.”

The Pahalgam terror attack was the worst assault targeting civilians in Jammu and Kashmir in almost two decades and also the worst terror attack in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which were carried out by the LeT.

Tensions between India and Pakistan soared after New Delhi unveiled a slew of economic, diplomatic and political punitive measures, including the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty and the closure of the only operational land border crossing at Attari, over “cross-border linkages” to the attack. Pakistan launched its own counter-measures, including closing its airspace to Indian airliners and suspending all trade, and its armed forces conducted military exercises, including the test firing of missiles.

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave India’s armed forces “complete operational freedom” to decide the mode, targets and timing of India’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack.

Reacting to the Indian army's multiple strikes on terror hubs, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said: “India has an unflinching National Policy against all forms of terrorism emanating from Pakistan and PoK.”

“We are extremely proud of our Indian Armed Forces who have stuck terror camps in Pakistan and PoK. We applaud their resolute resolve and courage. Since the day of the Pahalgam Terror Attack, the Indian National Congress has categorically stood with the Armed Forces and the Government to take any decisive action against cross border terror. National Unity and solidarity is the need of the hour and the Indian National Congress stands with our Armed Forces. Our leaders have shown the path in past, and National Interest is supreme for us,” Kharge posted on X.

Posting on X, senior Congress leader said the Congress party stands in solidarity with the government in its response to the Pahalgam terror attack.

“India's commitment to eliminating all sources of terrorism in Pakistan and PoK has necessarily to be uncompromising and always be anchored in the supreme national interest. This is a time for unity and solidarity. Right from the night of April 22nd, the INC has been categorically stating that the Govt will have our fullest support in the nation’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack. The INC is standing firmly with our armed forces,” Ramesh wrote on X.