Inside Operation Sindoor: India Delivers Justice, Pakistan Pays

In the early hours of May 7, 2025, India exercised its inherent right to self-defense by launching Operation Sindoor. This meticulously planned and executed operation targeted nine key terrorist camps located both within Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) and inside Pakistan. The strikes were measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible, with the sole objective of dismantling the terrorist infrastructure and neutralizing potential terrorists poised to infiltrate India.

Colonel Sofia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyamika Singh provided details of Operation Sindoor, emphasizing its focus on delivering justice to the victims of the Pahalgam attack and their families. The targeted camps, operational for the past three decades, formed a complex web of recruitment centers, indoctrination facilities, training areas for both initial and refresher courses, and launch pads for handlers. These camps were strategically located across POJK and Pakistan.

The selection of these nine targets was based on credible intelligence inputs, meticulously chosen to cripple the terror network while ensuring no harm to innocent civilians or civilian infrastructure. Precision capabilities and carefully selected warheads were employed to limit collateral damage, with each target being a specific building or a cluster of buildings.

The targets in POJK included:

• Sawai Nala Camp (Muzaffarabad): A Lashkar-e-Taiba training center, located 30 km from the Line of Control (LoC). Terrorists involved in attacks in Sonmarg (October 2024), Gulmarg (October 2024), and Pahalgam (April 2025) received training here.
• Syedna Bilal Camp (Muzaffarabad): A Jaish-e-Mohammed staging area, also serving as a center for weapons, explosives, and jungle survival training.
• Gulpur Camp (Kotli): A Lashkar-e-Taiba base, 30 km from the LoC, active in the Rajouri-Poonch sector. Terrorists involved in the Poonch attack (April 2023) and the bus attack on pilgrims (June 2024) trained here.
• Barnala Camp (Bimber): Located 9 km from the LoC, this camp provided training in weapons handling, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), and jungle survival.
• Abbas Camp (Kotli): Situated 13 km from the LoC, this LeT camp specialized in training Fidayeen (suicide attackers) and had a capacity to train 15 terrorists.

The targets inside Pakistan were:

• Sajal Camp (Sialkot): Located 6 km from the International Border (IB), this camp trained the terrorists responsible for the killing of four Jammu and Kashmir police personnel in March 2025 near Samba-Kathua.
• Mehmuna Jaya Camp (Sialkot): Situated 10-12 km from the IB, this major Hizbul Mujahideen camp served as a control center for spreading terror in the Kathua-Jammu region. The attack on the Pathankot Air Force base was planned and directed from this camp.
• Markaz Taba (Muridke): Located 18-25 km from the IB, this LeT camp was where the terrorists involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, including Ajmal Kasab and David Headley, were trained.
• Markaz Subhan Allah (Bahawalpur): Located 100 km from the International Boundary, this served as the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammed, encompassing recruitment, training, and indoctrination facilities. Top JeM leaders frequented this location.

Operation Sindoor: India's Response and Strategic Shift

The Indian armed forces emphasized that Operation Sindoor did not target any military establishments, and there were no reports of any civilian casualties. The successful neutralization of these targets with "clinical efficiency" underscored the professionalism of the Indian military in planning and executing such operations.

While India demonstrated considerable restraint in its response, the armed forces asserted their full preparedness to respond to any further misadventures by Pakistan that could escalate the situation. Operation Sindoor stands as a clear message that India will not tolerate cross-border terrorism and will take decisive action to protect its citizens and territorial integrity. This operation, conducted in the context of the UN Security Council's condemnation of the Pahalgam attack and the call to hold perpetrators accountable, marks a significant shift in India's approach to dealing with state-sponsored terrorism.

Pahalgam Attack: A Tragedy and Its Context

The date April 22, 2025, will be etched in India's memory as a day of brutal tragedy. Pakistani and Pakistan-trained terrorists belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) perpetrated a heinous attack on Indian tourists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, claiming the lives of 26 innocent individuals, including a Nepali national. This barbaric act, marked by victims being shot at close range in front of their families, represented the deadliest terrorist incident in India since the Mumbai attacks of November 2008.

Motive Behind the Pahalgam Attack

The motive behind the Pahalgam massacre was clear: to disrupt the burgeoning normalcy and economic revival in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly the flourishing tourism sector which had witnessed over 22 million visitors in the preceding year. By instilling fear and provoking communal discord, the perpetrators aimed to destabilize the region and provide fertile ground for continued cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

TRF's Involvement and Pakistan's Complicity

While a shadowy group calling itself "The Resistance Front" (TRF) claimed responsibility, Indian intelligence agencies swiftly identified it as a front for the UN-proscribed LeT. This revelation corroborated India's earlier submissions to the UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee, highlighting TRF's role as a cover for Pakistan-based terror outfits like LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Pakistan's subsequent attempts to remove references to TRF in a UN Security Council press statement further underscored its complicity.

Evidence of Pakistan's Support for Terrorism

Investigations into the Pahalgam attack unearthed communication links between the terrorists and their handlers in Pakistan. Eyewitness accounts and intelligence gathered by law enforcement agencies aided in identifying the attackers. The attack's modus operandi bore the hallmarks of Pakistan's long-standing policy of sponsoring cross-border terrorism, a fact well-documented and beyond dispute. Pakistan's reputation as a safe haven for international terrorists, where proscribed individuals often evade justice, and its history of misleading international bodies like the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on counter-terrorism efforts, further solidified its role in nurturing this ecosystem of violence. The case of Sajid Mir, falsely declared dead by Pakistan only to be found alive under international pressure, stands as a stark example of this duplicity.

Operation Sindoor: Strategic Shift and Restraint

India took care to avoid military establishments and ensured there were no civilian casualties. The strikes were measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible. This "clinical efficiency" highlighted the professionalism of the Indian armed forces in executing a high-stakes transborder operation.

While India demonstrated restraint, the armed forces asserted full preparedness to respond to any further provocations from Pakistan. Operation Sindoor sent a clear and unambiguous message: India will not tolerate cross-border terrorism and will take decisive action to protect its citizens and sovereignty.

This operation also reflected growing international alignment with India’s position, coming soon after the UN Security Council condemned the Pahalgam attack and emphasized the need to hold perpetrators and their sponsors accountable. Operation Sindoor marks not just a tactical response—but a strategic inflection point in India’s counterterrorism doctrine.