High-value terrorists and those involved in IC 814 plane hijacking, Pulwama blast eliminated

New Delhi: The Pakistani military lost approximately 35 to 40 personnel in artillery and small arms firing on the Line of Control (LoC) between May 7 and May 10, the Indian Armed Forces said in a press briefing yesterday.

In the early hours of May 7, India launched Operation Sindoor, targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The operation came in the wake of the Pahalgam terrorist attack on April 22 that claimed 26 lives.

Air Marshal A.K. Bharti, Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt. Gen. Rajiv Ghai, Maj. Gen. S.S. Shada and Director General Air (Operations) IAF and Vice Admiral A.N. Pramod held the press briefing on Operation Sindoor and its impact. High-value targets such as Yusuf Azhar, Abdul Malik Rauf and Mudasir Ahmed, who were involved in the hijacking of IC 814 and the Pulwama blast, were eliminated during Operation Sindoor.

Precision strikes

“Our aim on the 7th of May was to target terrorists and their infrastructure, not any other infrastructure, especially not Pakistani civilian or military establishments, and we achieved this with precision. However, on the evening of 7th May, we were subjected to a wave of Pakistani unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and small drones, which targeted both our civilian and military areas. They were successfully intercepted. While three drones managed to land, they caused minimal damage,” said the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt. Gen. Rajiv Ghai.

Indian forces also clarified that they didn’t count the Pakistani military casualties in the initial part of the conflict since only terrorists were the target.

“The key difference here is that we targeted terrorists, whereas the Pakistani response focused on our civilians and military infrastructure — a move that demands a response. In retaliation, we struck radar installations near Lahore and close to Gujranwala. Yet, we want to emphasise that escalation is not our goal. Our conflict is with terrorists, not with the Pakistani military establishment,” said Lt. Gen. Ghai.

India lost five soldiers

The DGMO said India lost five soldiers — two from the IAF on ground duties and three from the Army. Asked about any loss of air assets such as fighter jets suffered by India, the Director General of Air Operations, Air Marshal A.K. Bharti, said, “We are in a combat scenario, losses are a part of combat.”

While the IAF officer did not deny losses, he refused to divulge details, saying, “At this point, I would not like to comment on that because we are still in a combat situation. If I comment on anything, it will only be an advantage to the adversary.”

All pilots are back home

“All our pilots are back home,” he said. “We have achieved our objective of decimating the terrorist camps,” he added.

To a question, Air Marshal Bharti said India downed a few Pakistani planes but refused to hazard a guess on the numbers. “Their planes were prevented from crossing our border. So we do not have the wreckage with us, but we have downed a few planes,” he said.

The DGMO said, Pakistan would have to pay a heavy price if it resorted to any misadventure. “We have thus far exercised immense restraint and our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory. However, any threat to our citizens’ sovereignty, territorial integrity and safety will be met with decisive force,” he said.

The Indian Government has clarified, both for the world and Pakistan, that it went for the “snake’s head and not foot soldiers” this time, demonstrating its new approach to kill terrorists within Pakistan. The message that has been sent is that no matter where you are in Pakistan, we will hit you. On this occasion, the Government said that we have gone after the head of the snake and not the foot soldiers.