(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) New Delhi- Indian military carried out a“measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible” strike to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan to“deter and to pre-empt” any further terrorist strikes, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, hours after India retaliated the Pahalgam attack.
Addressing a packed press conference here, Misri said it was deemed essential that the perpetrators and planners of the April 22 attack be brought to justice as there was“no demonstrable” step from Islamabad to take action against the terror infrastructure on its territory or on territory under its control.
“Our intelligence monitoring of Pakistan-based terrorist modules indicated that further attacks against India were impending,” he said at the briefing, which was also addressed by Col. Sofia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.
The foreign secretary's comments came hours after India struck nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir with missiles and drones under an operation christened 'Operation Sindoor'.
Misri said there was a compulsion both to“deter and to pre-empt”.
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“Earlier this morning as you would be aware India exercised its right to respond and pre-empt as well as deter more such cross-border attacks,” he said.
“These actions were measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible. They focused on dismantling the terrorist infrastructure and disabling terrorists likely to be sent across to India,” Misri said.
The foreign secretary said despite a fortnight having passed since the Pahalgam attacks, there has been“no demonstrable step” from Pakistan to take action against the terrorist infrastructure on its territory or on territory under its control.
On the Pahalgam attack, Misri said Pakistani and Pakistan-trained terrorists belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out the savage strike on Indian tourists and murdered 26 people.
It was the largest number of civilian casualties in a terrorist attack in India since the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
“The attack in Pahalgam was marked by extreme barbarity, with the victims mostly killed with headshots from close range and in front of their families,” he said.
“Family members were deliberately traumatised through the manner of the killing, accompanied by the exhortation that they should take back the message,” Misri said.
The foreign secretary said the Pahalgam attack was“clearly driven by the objective of undermining the normalcy returning” to Jammu and Kashmir.
“In particular, it was designed to impact the mainstay of the economy, tourism, with a record 23 million tourists visiting the valley last year,” he said.
“The calculation, presumably, was that harming growth and development in the Union Territory would help keep it backward and create fertile ground for continued cross-border terrorism from Pakistan,” he said.
Misri noted that the manner of the attack was also driven by an“objective of provoking communal discord”, both in Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of the nation.
“It is to the credit of the government and the people of India that these designs were foiled,” he said.
Citing cross-border linkages to the attack, he pointed towards a so called group calling itself“The Resistance Front” (TRF) claimed responsibility for the attack.
“This group is a front for the UN-proscribed Pakistani terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Taiba,” he said.
“It is notable that India had given inputs about the TRF in the half-yearly report to the monitoring team of the UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee in May and November 2024, bringing out its role as a cover for Pakistan-based terrorist groups,” he added.
Misri said“identification of the attackers based on eyewitness accounts, as well as other information available to law enforcement agencies, has also progressed.”
“Our intelligence has developed an accurate picture of the planners and backers of this team,” he added.
The 9 Terror Targets In Pak Hit By India
India carried out 24 precision cruise missile strikes at nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) Wednesday in response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam last month, which killed 26 tourists.
The targets that were hit included Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Bahawalpur, Rawalakot, Chakswari, Bhimber, Neelum Valley, Jhelum, and Chakwal. All these locations were identified as hubs of terrorist activity.
India launched standoff cruise missiles at camps affiliated with the terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (LeT).
Below are details of each target, according to defence sources-
MARKAZ TAIBA CAMP
India says the camp, 25 km (16 miles) from the de-facto border, was the headquarters of terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which has been linked to last month's attack.
Ajmal Kasab, the sole perpetrator of the 2008 attack on Mumbai to be captured alive, was also trained at the facility. More than 160 people were killed in the attack on India's financial capital.
MARKAZ SUBHAN CAMP
The target deepest in Pakistan, about 100 km (62 miles) from the border, this camp was the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and was used for recruiting, training, and indoctrination, India says.
MEHMOONA JOYA CAMP
India says attacks planned and executed from this camp, a training facility of terrorist group Hijbul Mujahideen 12 km (7 miles) from the border, include a 2016 attack on an Indian air base that killed seven.
GULPUR CAMP
This camp was a base for LeT located 30 km (19 miles) from the border, India says, adding that a June attack targeting pilgrims in Kashmir's Poonch region, which killed nine, was among those executed by“terrorists” trained at the facility.
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attack, also frequented the camp for“indoctrination and motivational speeches”.
SARJAL CAMP
India says the perpetrators of an attack in March that killed four police personnel in India's Jammu and Kashmir were trained and launched from the camp, 6 km (4 miles) inside Pakistan.
ABBAS CAMP
This camp, located 13 km (8 miles) from the border, was the“nerve centre” for training LeT suicide bombers, India says.
SYEDNA BELAL CAMP
India says this camp, a staging area for JeM, was used to provide weapons' and explosives' training, and survival techniques for“terrorist activities” in Indian Kashmir.
SAWAI NALA CAMP
Located about 30 km (19 miles) from the de-facto border, the camp was a key training facility for LeT, India says.
BARNALA CAMP
India says this facility was used to train terrorists in weapon handling, improvised explosive device making, and jungle survival techniques.
'10 Family Members Of JeM Chief Killed'
Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar acknowledged on Wednesday that 10 members of his family and four close associates were killed in India's missile attack on the outfit's headquarters in Bahawalpur, news agency PTI reported.
A statement attributed to Azhar said those killed in the attack on Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur included the JeM chief's elder sister and her husband, a nephew and his wife, another niece, and five children from his extended family.
The statement further mentioned that the attack also claimed the lives of one of Azhar's close associates and his mother, along with two other close companions.
“This act of brutality has broken all boundaries. There should be no expectation of mercy now,” it added.
Bahawalpur became the hub of the JeM after the release of Azhar in exchange for the hijacked passengers of IC-814 in 1999 May 2019, the United Nations designated Azhar a“global terrorist” after China lifted its hold on a proposal to blacklist the JeM chief, a decade after New Delhi approached the world body for the first time on the issue.
The elusive Azhar, who has not been seen in public since April 2019, is believed to be hiding in a“safe place” in Bahawalpur.
The group has been involved in a series of terror attacks in India, including the Parliament attack in 2001, the strike on the Jammu and Kashmir assembly in 2000, the attack on the IAF base in Pathankot in 2016 and the Pulwama suicide bombing in 2019.
Meanwhile, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said that all those injured in the Bahawalpur attack have been shifted to Victoria Hospital and given the best treatment.
The Pakistan military said that 26 people were killed and 46 others injured in the attack. (With inputs from PTI, Reuters)
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