India today hit nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, targeting terrorist infrastructure there. The strike came two weeks after the Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 people were killed.
A defence ministry statement said on Wednesday, “A little while ago, the Indian armed forces launched ‘Operation Sindoor’, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed.”
“Altogether nine sites have been attacked,” it said.
“Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution,” it said.
“These steps come 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,” it said.
In a post on X, the Additional Directorate General of Public Information, Indian Army, posted an image that read Operation Sindoor with the text: #PahalgamTerrorAttack. Justice is Served. Jai Hind!”
Multiple explosions
The Reuters news agency, reporting from Muzaffarabad in PoK, said multiple explosions had been heard. It quoted a spokesman for Pakistan’s military telling broadcaster ARY that India had attacked Pakistan with missiles in three places and that Pakistan would respond.
New York Times reported that residents of Muzaffarabad also reported hearing jets flying above. They said that a site in a rural area near Muzaffarabad that was once used by Lashkar-e-Taiba appeared to have been targeted in the strikes.
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A spokesman for the Pakistan Army said that two other places had also come under attack. One was Bahawalpur, in Punjab Province, the site of a religious seminary associated with Jaish-e-Mohammad, and the other was Kotli, a city in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Earlier on Tuesday
Earlier in the day, weighing its response to the Pahalgam terror attack, the government was learnt to be working on a multi-pronged military strategy to re-establish deterrence against Pakistan’s hostile behaviour.
This was the main and clear brief given to the military and security establishment by the political top brass over the last week of consultations. The process, sources had told The Indian Express, would look at all credible options, including a military retaliation, but the objective of “re-establishing deterrence” was firmly set.
There was a growing realisation within the top levels of the government that the deterrence established by the Balakot air strike in February 2019 had “worn off”, and it was time to re-establish that, sources had said.
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Wednesday’s development follows a series of high-level meetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Navy chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal A P Singh to discuss operational preparedness and retaliatory options on the table.
Modi also met Defence Secretary R K Singh on Monday to discuss critical policies and purchases concerning the armed forces.
At the tactical level, the Army has bolstered forward defences along the borders, while additional strengthening and preparations are underway to tackle any cross-border action.