NEW DELHI: The Army said it killed the masterminds of the 2019 Pulwama attack and the 1999 IC-814 hijacking, along with over 100 others, in precision airstrikes carried out across nine locations in Pakistan on May 7. The strikes were part of Operation Sindoor, India’s most extensive cross-border military response in recent years and were designed to target terror infrastructure while avoiding civilian casualties.
The revelations came on Sunday during a high-level press briefing in Delhi, where senior officers from the Army, Air Force, and Navy laid out the scope and objectives of the operation. Among those killed were Yusuf Azhar, Abdul Malik Rauf, and Mudasir Ahmed, who were termed by officers as high-value operatives long sought by Indian security agencies.
“We achieved total surprise,” said Director General of Military Operations Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai. “The targets were carefully selected and validated. We struck with precision, and we hit what we meant to destroy.”
The Indian Air Force carried out the strikes after identifying nine key terror hubs believed to house operatives responsible for past and planned attacks on Indian soil. Air Marshal A K Bharti said the IAF pilots who carried out the operation had all returned safely. Asked about possible aircraft losses, Bharti said, “This is a combat situation. Losses are part of it. But the question to ask is: did we achieve our objective? And the answer is an emphatic yes.”
Bharti also said Indian forces had likely downed a few Pakistani aircraft attempting to breach Indian airspace during the operation, though he did not provide exact figures. “We don’t have the wreckage because they were kept from crossing the border,” he added, while affirming that the IAF had a working estimate of the number brought down.
The operation comes in the wake of the April 22, massacre in Pahalgam in which 26 tourists were killed. The top security officer said the Operation Sindoor saw the killing of five security men.
They said India’s response was swift and coordinated across all three services. Vice-Admiral A N Pramod, Director General of Naval Operations, said that the Indian Navy’s Carrier Battle Group, submarines, surface forces, and aviation units were mobilised within 96 hours of the Pahalgam attack and had tested weapons systems at sea in preparation for any wider escalation.
Even as India was publicly disclosing details of Operation Sindoor, the situation on the Line of Control remained tense. On Saturday afternoon, the Director Generals of Military Operations of India and Pakistan spoke and agreed to a ceasefire on land, air, and sea from 5 pm the same day. But within hours, Pakistan violated the agreement with cross-border firing and drone intrusions.
“Disappointingly — and expectedly — Pakistan violated the ceasefire just hours after it was agreed upon,” said Lt Gen Ghai. “We responded robustly and have conveyed that any further violations will be met with punitive force.”
In the military exchanges that followed the May 7 strikes, India lost five soldiers. Two personnel were killed in the Jammu region in the past 24 hours alone amid shelling and drone attacks by Pakistani forces. Ghai confirmed that 35 to 40 Pakistani soldiers were also killed between May 7 and May 10 in retaliatory operations along the LoC.
The government of India has meanwhile signalled a hardened security doctrine. According to top officials, any future act of terror will now be treated as an act of war. Under Indian law, such acts are defined as those intended to threaten national unity, intimidate civilians, or disturb public order.
The two countries’ Director Generals of Military Operations are scheduled to speak again on Monday, but with the ceasefire already fraying at the edges, the next move remains uncertain — and fraught with consequences.
