First Strike Of Op Sindoor Conducted At 1 Am On May 7 To Avoid Civilian Casualties: CDS Anil Chauhan

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Operation Sindoor's first strike was conducted at 1 am on May 7 to avoid civilian casualties, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan said in Ranchi on Thursday.

On May 7, India conducted a joint military strike – Operation Sindoor – targeting nine terror beds across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) – in retaliation to Pakistan's lethal terrorist attacks in Pahalgam on April 22.

CDS Chauhan's comments come nearly five months after the coveted operation. He made the comments during an interaction with school children in Jharkhand's Ranchi on Thursday, September 18.

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Referring to the precision strikes carried out during Operation Sindoor, CDS Anil Chauhan said that the strikes for long-distance targets during the night required“special efforts.”

What did CDS Chauhan say

• CDS Anil Chauhan also said that this year, the Indian Army made maximum efforts to rescue citizens as number of national calamities was high.
• “The 'fauj' (army) is the only place where there is no nepotism... You should aspire to join the armed forces if you want to serve the nation, and explore the country and the world,” he said.

Months after Operation Sindoor – JeM commander Ilyas Kashmiri, in a viral video uploaded on YouTube channel – admitted that the family of Masood Azhar, the terror group's chief, was“torn into pieces” in the Indian missile strikes on May 7 on the outfit's headquarters in Bahawalpur, Pakistan.

Masood Azhar's family 'torn into pieces' in Op Sindoor

A statement by Azhar circulated through his Telegram channel 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.

Also Read | Jaish commander exposes Asim Munir says 'sent Generals to terrorists' funerals'

Under Operation Sindoor, India targeted Bahawalpur, Pakistan's 12th largest city – as it serves as the nerve centre of JeM. Located around 400 km from Lahore, it houses JeM's operational headquarters at the Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah, also known as the Usman-o-Ali campus.

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