In a strong retaliation to the Pahalgam massacre, India’s armed forces early Wednesday destroyed nine terror sites including that of Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) using deep strike missiles in a 25-minute-long ‘measured and non-escalatory’ mission.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said India decided to carry out the ‘proportionate’ strikes to bring the perpetrators and planners of the Pahalgam attack to justice as there was ‘no demonstrable step’ from Pakistan to act against terrorist infrastructure on territories under its control.
It was for the first time since the 1971 Indo-Pak war that India carried out an aerial attack deep inside Punjab province of Pakistan.
Fifteen days after the Pahalgam carnage on April 22, the targets for the military response codenamed ‘Operation Sindoor’ included the Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM) stronghold of Bahawalpur in Punjab province that is located at over 100 km from the Indian border.
JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar acknowledged that 10 members of his family and four close associates were killed in India’s missile attack.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said India’s military scripted ‘history’ by acting with ‘precision, precaution and compassion’ in destroying the terror camps.
Singh further said India used its ‘right to respond’ to the Pahalgam attack and that the targets were destroyed as per plan.
Official sources said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was monitoring the operation closely through the night.
Justice is Served.
Jai Hind! pic.twitter.com/Aruatj6OfA
— ADG PI – INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) May 6, 2025
Later at a meeting of the Union Cabinet, he hailed the Indian armed forces for carrying out the successful targeted strikes at the terror camps.
The sources said it was Prime Minister Modi who picked the evocative term ‘Operation Sindoor’ to codename the Indian response.
‘Sindoor’ is a reference to the red vermillion that married Hindu women wear to signify their married status.
In the Pahalgam attack, the husbands of several women were killed in front of them, including an Indian Navy officer.
A total of 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed in the carnage.
Under ‘Operation Sindoor’, the Indian military targeted Markaz Taiba of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Muridke, Markaz Subhan Allah of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Bahawalpur and Hizbul Mujahideen’s Mehmoona Joya Facility in Sialkot and LeT’s base in Markaz Ahle Hadith in Barnala and its camp in Muzaffarabad’s Shawai Nalla, military officials said.
Muridke, located a short distance from Lahore, is home to a sprawling ‘markaz’ or base of the LeT.
