India neutralised nine terror camps in Pakistan and PoK during the early hours of Wednesday — around two weeks after the horrifying Pahalgam attack. New Delhi had repeatedly vowed to deliver a ‘befitting reply’ to its neighbour following the April 22 incident which left 26 dead and several other injured. The official Indian Army social media handle also appeared to foreshadow the Indian response — posting minutes before the attack that the country was “ready to strike”.
“Ready to Strike, Trained to Win,” the official Indian Army handle posted at 1:28 am alongside a video.
The first news updates about explosions rocking Bahawalpur and Muzaffarabad came moments after this video was posted. The Indian Government eventually released a brief press note confirming strikes against nine terror camps at 1:44 am.
An official statement said the attacks had been “focused, measured, and non-escalatory” and deliberately avoided any Pakistani military installations. Details about the terror installations that were stuck on Wednesday have not been officially confirmed by Indian authorities. Sources however told ANI that four of the nine targets were in Pakistan while five were in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The targets in Pakistan included Bahawalpur, Muridke and Sialkot. Indian forces had reportedly selected these locations with the intent of targeting key Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba leadership, responsible for sponsoring terrorism in India.
India had used loitering munition for the attack — a type of precision weapon that hovers over a target area to locate and strike targets, often autonomously or under human control, before being expended. The coordinates for the strikes were reportedly provided by intelligence agencies and the strikes were carried out entirely from Indian soil.
Bahawalpur became the hub of the JeM terror group after the release of Masood Azhar in exchange for the hijacked passengers of IC-814 in 1999. The group has since then been involved in a series of terror strikes in India, including the Parliament attack in 2001. Muridke, 30 km from Lahore, has been the headquarters of the LeT since 1990. It is headed by Hafiz Saeed and responsible for the 26/11 terror siege of Mumbai.
(With inputs from agencies)