Director General of Military Operations, DGMO of the Indian Army, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, today said strikes across nine terror hubs in Pakistan and PoJK under Operation Sindoor killed over 100 terrorists. Briefing media in New Delhi this evening, the DGMO said they include high-value targets such as Yusuf Azhar, Abdul Malik Rauf and Mudasir Ahmed, who were involved in the hijack of IC814 and the Pulwama blast. He stated that Operation Sindoor was conceptualised with a clear military aim to punish the perpetrators and planners of terror and to destroy their terror infrastructure. Operation Sindoor set into motion a very diligent and microscopic scarring of the terror landscape across the borders and the identification of terror camps and training sites.
The DGMO said he spoke to his Pakistani counterpart yesterday afternoon, who proposed cessation of hostilities. He added that this resulted in the cessation of cross-border firing and air intrusions by either side. Both sides also decided to speak at 12 PM tomorrow to discuss the modalities that would enable the longevity of this understanding.Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, however, expressed disappointment that it took only a couple of hours for the Pakistan Army to violate these arrangements by cross-border and across Line of Control firing, followed by drone intrusions. He said another hotline message has been sent to his counterpart, highlighting that if there are violations of the understanding tonight or later, these will be responded to fiercely and punitively. The DGMO stressed that the Chief of Army Staff, General Upendra Dwivedi, has granted full authority to the army commanders for counteraction in case of any violation by Pakistan.
The DGMO also paid tribute to the five martyrs from the Armed Forces and civilians who lost their lives in Operation Sindoor.
On being asked about how many Pakistani planes were downed, Director General of Air Operations, Air Marshal AK Bharti, said their planes were prevented from entering the country, and a few planes were definitely downed.
Air Marshal Bharti also said that the Air Force has achieved its objectives and all the pilots are back home. Giving details on Operation Sindoor, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai said there was a self-imposed restriction to target only terrorists and prevent collateral damage. He added that the LoC was violated soon after the airstrikes, and the erratic and rattled response of the enemy was apparent from the number of civilians, inhabited villages and religious sites that were hit by them, leading to loss of lives. DGMO highlighted that the Indian Air Force played a major part in these strikes by engaging some of these camps, and the Indian Navy provided wherewithal in terms of precision munitions.
Director General of Air Operations, Air Marshal AK Bharti, informed that the targets were carefully selected and the target systems that were given to the Indian Air Force were the notorious training camps at Bahawalpur and Muridke. He said that through critical target system analysis, the Air Force analysed all that needed to be done to annihilate the targets. He added that they planned to engage these targets with precision air-to-surface guided munitions in order to avoid collateral damage.Air Marshal Bharti showed detailed missile impact videos at the Muridke terror camp and the Bahawalpur terror camp. He said the objective was to target the terror infrastructure and not any other infrastructure. He said on the evening of 7th May, there was a saturation of Pakistani unmanned aerial vehicles and small drones in civilian areas and military installations. He said all of these were successfully intercepted. He pointed out that while India targeted terrorists, the adversary was targeting civilians and military infrastructure. Air Marshal Bharti said that, therefore, in a quick and calibrated response that very night, India struck Pakistani radar installations at Lahore and Gujranwala.
DGMO Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai said that on the night of 8th and 9th May, Pakistan flew drones and aircraft into India’s airspace and made largely unsuccessful attempts to target numerous military infrastructures. He said violations on the LoC by Pakistan also commenced yet again and precipitated into fierce engagements. The DGMO said that the Pakistan Army has reported to have lost approximately 35 to 40 personnel in artillery and small arms firing on the Line of Control between 7th and 10th May.Air Marshal AK Bharti said India’s air defence preparedness ensured that there was no damage on the ground or to any of the intended targets that the enemy might have planned for. He further stated that on the evening of 8th May, several Pakistani unmanned aerial systems and drones attacked multiple IAF bases. These include Jammu, Udhampur, Pathankot, Amritsar, Bathinda, Dalhousie, and Jaisalmer. All these waves were neutralised by trained crew using the air defence systems. Air Marshal Bharti emphasised that a decision was taken to strike where it would hurt, and the Air Force struck Pakistan’s air bases, command centres, military infrastructure, and air defence systems across the entire Western Front. He said this sent a clear message that aggression will not be tolerated.