The Indian Armed Forces held a press briefing on Wednesday to share details of Operation Sindoor, the country’s most significant retaliatory strike since the Balakot airstrikes in 2019. The briefing was led by Colonel Sofiya Qureshi of the Indian Army and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh of the Indian Air Force.
Speaking to the media, Colonel Qureshi said that Operation Sindoor was launched to deliver justice to the victims of the Pahalgam terrorist attack, which claimed 26 lives. She confirmed that nine terrorist camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir were successfully targeted and neutralised. Colonel Qureshi specified that the operation took place between 1:05 am and 1:30 am on Wednesday, describing it as a precision strike aimed at key terror infrastructure.
Who is Colonel Sofiya Qureshi?
Colonel Qureshi, a distinguished officer from the Army’s Corps of Signals, is no stranger to breaking barriers. In 2016, she became the first Indian woman to command a military contingent at an international exercise, leading the Indian team at ‘Exercise Force 18’, the country’s largest foreign-hosted military drill. She was also the only female commander among 18 participating nations.
Hailing from Gujarat, Colonel Qureshi holds a postgraduate degree in biochemistry and comes from a military family. She is married to an officer in the Mechanised Infantry. Her international credentials include six years with UN Peacekeeping Operations, notably in Congo in 2006, where she monitored ceasefires and supported humanitarian missions.
She once called her UN role a “proud moment” and encouraged more women in uniform to serve the nation with dedication. Her leadership was previously recognised by then-Army Commander Lt Gen Bipin Rawat, who noted that her selection stemmed from merit, not gender.
What did the proud parents of Colonel Sofiya Quershi say?
After leading the historic briefing on Operation Sindoor today, Sofiya has made her family proud.
“We are very proud. Our daughter has done a great thing for our country… Pakistan should be destroyed… My grandfather, my father, and I were all in the army. Now she is, too,” her father Taj Mohammed Qureshi told ANI.
Her mother, Halima Qureshi, said, “We have avenged the sindoors of our sisters and mothers… Sofiya wanted to follow in the footsteps of her father and grandfather, who were also in the army. She used to say as a child that when she grew up, she would join the army.”
Her brother, Mohammed Sanjay Qureshi, expressed, “She is my idol… We had been waiting for a long time for revenge. But we could never have expected such revenge, or for the press conference to be conducted by a family member. We were pleasantly surprised that our family got such a big opportunity.”