70 killed, more than 100 injured as 'Operation Sindoor' stuns Pakistan

NEW DELHI: Sindoor is the tilak of marital purity. Touch it and you pay the price. This was India’s stern message to Pakistan on May 6 through the covert ‘Operation Sindoor’. India’s payback to Pakistan came on the 15th day of the barbaric Pahalgam terror attack.

Four terrorist camps in Pakistan and five in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir were burnt down. These were camps of Lashkar, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen.

70 terrorists were killed and 100 people were injured. Among the dead were 10 relatives and four followers of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief and terrorist Masood Azhar, including his sister. In a rare response, a grieve-stricken Azhar wished death on him rather than witnessing his loved ones’ departure.

Rafale and Mirage fighters were used in the operation, which lasted from 1.05 am to 1.30 am yesterday. GPS and laser-guided Scalp missiles and Hammer bombs hit the target without missing a beat. They showed their strength by destroying terrorist camps within 100 kilometres without entering Pakistani soil. Indian attack stood apart in precision, not touching military bases or injuring civilians.

The joint operation between the Army and Air Force was named Sindoor by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PM Modi also watched the military operation live. This is the first time since 1971 that India has invaded Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Pakistan, stunned by the Indian retaliation, showed its true colours by shelling border villages, killing 15 poor people including children. The neighbouring nation is also shrewd in its info war spreading disinformation about shooting down an Indian MiG-29 aircraft.

The first attack was on the Markaz Abbas camp in Kotli, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, at 1.05 am. Within 25 minutes, 9 camps, including those of Jaish and Hizbul, were reduced to ashes. The missile was fired 24 times. Masood's headquarters, which India destroyed, is 100 km from the international border.

Pakistan military spokesman Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry held a press conference at 4.08 am, confirming that the Indian army had attacked 24 times. Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate and called India’s attack a declaration of war.