India avenges Pahalgam attack; strikes 9 terror targets in Pakistan, PoK under Op Sindoor

A security personnel keeps vigil during a search operation after India struck nine terror targets in Pakistan & PoK, at Pampore in Pulwama district, J&K, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. In retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack, Indian armed forces carried out missile strikes early Wednesday on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base Muridke, under 'Operation Sindoor' .

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• The carefully named Operation Sindoor is a reference to the vermilion that married Hindu women wear on their forehead or in the parting of their hair to signify their marital status. It is a hat tip to the women who lost their husbands in the April 22 attack in the upper reaches of Kashmir's Pahalgam town.
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• India's actions came two weeks after the Pahalgam terror attack triggered widespread outrage in India and abroad.
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• "These steps come in the wake of the barbaric Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen were murdered," the defence ministry said in its statement.
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• "We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable," it said.
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• In a post on 'X' in Hindi shortly after the strikes, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said: "Long live Mother India!" (Bharat Mata Ki Jai)."
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• "The world must show zero tolerance for terrorism," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar added.
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• "Justice is Served," the Indian Army said in its post.
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• Pakistan Army spokesperson Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that missile strikes were fired by India at Kotli and Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Bahawalpur in Punjab.
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• "All of our air force jets are airborne. This cowardly and shameful attack was carried out from within India's airspace. They were never allowed to come and intrude into the space of Pakistan," he said
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• "The Pakistani nation and the Pakistani armed forces know how to deal with the enemy very well," Shehbaz Sharif said.
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• The Pakistan foreign ministry condemned India's action.
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• "In an unprovoked and blatant act of war, the Indian Air Force, while remaining within Indian airspace, has violated Pakistan's sovereignty using standoff weapons, targeting civilian population across international border in Muridke and Bahawalpur, and across Line of Control in Kotli and Muzaffarabad," it said.
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• It said India's "act of aggression" has resulted in death of civilians, adding that "Pakistan reserves the right to respond appropriately at a time and place of its choosing".
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• Sources in the Indian military establishment said all air defence units have been put on alert along the frontier with Pakistan.
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• After the operation, India reached out to several leading countries, including the US, Russia, the UK, UAE and Saudi Arabia and briefed them about the military strike on the nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir, the sources said.
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• "Senior Indian officials have spoken to their counterparts in a number of countries to brief them on the steps taken by India," said a source.
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• The operation came days after Modi gave the armed forces full freedom to respond to the Pahalgam terror attack.
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• In a high-level meeting with the top defence brass, the prime minister on April 29 gave the armed forces "complete operational freedom" to decide on the mode, targets and timing of the response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
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• Modi also emphasised the national resolve to deal a "crushing blow to terrorism".