Operation Sindoor: In the dark hours between May 6 and 7, a pivotal operation unfolded as India executed highly coordinated air strikes against Pakistan, targeting a multitude of terror sites nestled within Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as well as across the border in Pakistan. This significant military initiative, dubbed ‘Operation Sindoor’, was strategically designed with the primary objective of dismantling the operational capabilities of terrorist groups that have been active near the Line of Control (LoC).
The impetus behind ‘Operation Sindoor’ surged from the tragic loss of 26 innocent lives on April 22, when a group of holidaymakers was mercilessly attacked in Pahalgam, a picturesque location in Kashmir often celebrated for its stunning landscapes and commonly referred to as “Mini Switzerland”. In a decisive response, India intensified its military actions, launching a barrage of missile strikes while fierce exchanges of gunfire erupted along the LoC.
On Wednesday, Indian officials confidently proclaimed the successful neutralisation of critical terror infrastructure associated with notorious outfits such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and Hizbul Mujahideen (HuM). This extensive infrastructure included not only training facilities but also mosques and command centres integral to the operations of these militant groups.
“Investigations into the Pahalgam terror attack have brought out the communication nodes of terrorists in and to Pakistan. The claims made by The Resistance Front and their reposting by known social media handles of the Lashkar-e-Taiba speak for themselves. Identification of the attackers, based on eyewitness accounts, as well as other information available to law enforcement agencies, has also progressed. Our intelligence has developed an accurate picture of the planners and backers of this team,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said at a press briefing Wednesday.
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Misri added that Operation Sindoor was “deemed essential” in order to bring the “perpetrators and planners” of Pahalgam attack to justice. “Our intelligence monitoring of Pakistan-based terrorist modules indicated that further attacks against India were impending. There was thus a compulsion both to deter and to pre-empt.”
Unprecedented Ambush Since 1971
Under Operation Sindoor, a significant development occurred with the targeting of terrorist camps situated within mainland Pakistan, specifically in regions such as Bahawalpur, Muridke, Sarjal, and Mehmoona Joya, all of which are located in the Punjab province. These locations have been known hotspots for militant activities, and their selection highlights India’s proactive stance in counterterrorism efforts.
OPERATION SINDOOR#JusticeServed
Target 1 – Abbas Terrorist Camp at Kotli.
Distance – 13 Km from Line of Control (POJK).
Nerve Centre for training suicide bombers of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Key training infrastructure for over 50 terrorists.DESTROYED AT 1.04 AM on 07 May 2025.… pic.twitter.com/OBF4gTNA8q
— ADG PI – INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) May 7, 2025
This operation marks a pivotal moment in India-Pakistan relations as it represents the first time since the 1971 war that India has executed military strikes within Pakistani territory, shaking the foundation of the Pakistani armed forces.
The terror camps that were targeted inside Pakistan were Mehmoona Joya, Sialkot, Muridke, Sarjal and Bahawalpur.
Bahawalpur is the headquarters of JeM that houses the entire network run by its founder Masood Azhar, who was the brain behind the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008.
The Mehmoona Joya terrorist camp is situated about 12 km from the International Boundary (IB). This was one of the main straining centres of HuM and was used as a control centre for revival of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
Lt Gen (Retd) KJS ‘Tiny’ Dhillon, an Infantry veteran from the Rajputana Rifles with about four decades of military service serving multiple tenures in Kashmir, told ABP Live: “After 1971, this is the first time that the Indian armed forces have struck Pakistan’s Punjab. It was deliberately done to hurt their Punjabi pride and so the Punjabi terrorist outfits have been particularly targeted.”
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Dhillon, also the author of ‘Kitne Ghazi Aye Kitne Ghazi Gaye: My Life Story’, said: “This was done to tell Pakistan that India can hit whenever and wherever it intends to. They will also retaliate but they know very well that they don’t have the capacity to escalate this beyond a point. Therefore, their only way out is to hit civilian targets. They cannot do anything to the military installations as they are well protected by India. And, they also know that if they come near the IB it will be considered a full-scale war.”
In PoK, the Indian armed forces attacked Abbas terrorist camp located at Kotli, located a mere 13 km from the LoC. This camp was identified as a central hub for the training of LeT’s suicide bombers. At the time of the airstrikes on May 7, over 50 militants were reported to be present within this compound, which was subsequently obliterated by the Indian Air Force (IAF), further crippling the operational capacity of these terrorist factions.
Among the nine terror targets that were chalked out by Operation Sindoor was Gulpur terrorist camp, also at Kotli. This is situated around 30 km away from the LoC. A total of five sites out of the nine are located in PoK.
“This operation is clearly much more intense than Balakot. In this operation, there were multiple targets and adequate proofs have been given. But this is not the end of the matter. This is going to be protracted,” said Sharat Sabharwal, former Indian envoy to Islamabad.
“As a retaliatory action, it is obvious that Pakistan will have no option but to hit civilian population. They have no terror targets here so hitting civilian targets and military installations are their only way out. Last time, during Balakot strikes too they had hit close to our military targets,” said Sabharwal, author of ‘India’s Pakistan Conundrum: Managing a Complex Relationship’.
After the Pulwama attack in 2019, India launched airstrikes across the border in the Balakot region of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province targeting terror camps of JeM. Prior to that, in 2016, as a retaliation for the terror attack on an Indian Army facility in Uri in 2016, Delhi had pulverised terror launchpads in PoK.
What Did Pakistan Say?
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called Operation Sindoor as an “act of war” while reiterating that Islamabad has every right to give a “befitting reply” to India. On Wednesday, after the operation was announced by India, Sharif chaired an emergency meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) in which he said India’s military operation was “unprovoked and cowardly”.
“In consonance with Article-51 of the UN Charter, Pakistan reserves the right to respond, in self-defence, at a time, place, and manner of its choosing to avenge the loss of innocent Pakistani lives and blatant violation of its sovereignty. The Armed Forces of Pakistan have duly been authorised to undertake corresponding actions in this regard,” Sharif’s office said in a statement issued to the media.
In a bizarre statement later in their parliament, PM Sharif said Indian armed forces targeted only six locations by using 80 fighter jets.
“Last night, they (India) had all of 80 jets through which they attacked six places in Pakistan including two in Azad Kashmir. These were attacked by Indian planes last night. The Pakistani side was completely ready. Our jets did not cross our airspace. The moment the Indian side released payloads, we engaged their jets and shot five Indian jets including three Rafales, some of which fell in Indian occupied Kashmir and one in Bhatinda,” he stressed.
According to Foreign Secretary Misri, there had been intelligence inputs that Pakistan-based terrorists had planned further attacks against India and thus “there was thus a compulsion both to deter and to pre-empt”.
Speaking to ABP Live, former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal said: “Pakistan does not have the capacity for a prolonged conflict and neither do they plan to escalate the current conflict. However, the Pakistani Army would want to show their might to their domestic audience and hence will retaliate in large measure by targeting civilians on the Indian side of the LoC.”
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said in an interview to CNN that Islamabad is viewing Operation Sindoor as an “invitation to expand the conflict” by crossing the IB, but they are “trying to avoid” a full-scale war.
Both Sabharwal and Sibal, however, noted that the current crisis may get resolved with the intervention of the United States as well as China, which would not intend to see this expanding in the region.
Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval apprised some of the key partner countries, such the US, the UAE, Japan and the UK, among others, about the situation.
