New Delhi: In a controlled military escalation, Indian armed forces have carried out precision missile attacks on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK) in the early hours of Wednesday 7 May, in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, as part of Operation Sindoor.
In an official press release, the Indian Defence Ministry has said the nine terror sites were targeted and actions carried out in a “focused, measured and non-escalatory manner.” It was also made very clear that no Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. Sources in the defence and security establishment have confirmed that the strikes were carried out using “niche weapon systems” of the Indian Air Force, Army and Navy.
Named Operation Sindoor, the strikes hit terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and PoJK from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed, officials said. The strike locations include Punjab’s Bahawalpur, the stronghold of the terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad.
The name of India’s military operation ‘Sindoor’ is itself significant given how terrorists in Kashmir had deliberately identified, segregated and barbarically executed Hindu tourists in Kashmir in front of their wives and children. Sindoor is an orange/ red color powder used by Indians for religious and cultural purposes. Married Hindu women wear the sindoor on their foreheads, indicating their married status. By executing husbands at point blank range, Pakistan sponsored terrorists had wiped out the ‘sindoor’ of Indian women, and the name of the Indian military operation seems to directly reflects the national sentiment in India.
Following the strikes, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif posted on X saying: “The cunning enemy has carried out cowardly attacks on five locations in Pakistan. Pakistan has every right to respond forcefully to this act of war imposed by India, and a forceful response is being given.”
“The entire nation stands with the Pakistani armed forces, and the morale and spirit of the entire Pakistani nation are high. The Pakistani nation and the Pakistani armed forces know how to deal with the enemy. We will never allow the enemy to succeed in their nefarious goals,” the post further said.
India’s Ministry of Defence in its official statement has said that India’s strike against Pakistan come in the wake of the Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen were killed 22 April.
“We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable,” the defence ministry statement added.
For its part, the Pakistan Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has issued a statement saying that India has struck three places from air: Bahawalpur, Kotli, and Muzaffarabad.
“All planes of Pakistan Air Force are airborne. All strikes were made by India from its own airspace. Pakistan will respond to it at a time and place of its own choosing. It will not go unanswered,” Pakistan ISPR said.
Following the strikes, Indian Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma were among those who hailed the operation. Rajnath Singh simply posted ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.
The Indian Army has posted: ‘Justice is served. Jai Hind!’ It was later followed by a short video clip with the message ‘Ready to Strike, Trained to Win’.
(this is a developing story and is being updated in real time as the situation unfolds)
 in the early hours of Wednesday 7 May, in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, as part of Operation Sindoor.){kind=link}