Operation Sindoor: India targets Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba headquarters in Pakistan

NEW DELHI: Indian Armed Forces targeted the headquarters of banned terror groups Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in a series of precision strikes carried out at nine sites in Pakistan under Operation Sindoor in early hours of Wednesday, PTI reported citing officials.Bahawalpur emerged as the stronghold of JeM terror group following the release of Masood Azhar in 1999, secured in exchange for the hostages of hijacked flight IC-814.Since then, the group has been linked to a series of major attacks in India, including the 2000 strike on the Jammu and Kashmir assembly, the 2001 Parliament attack, the 2016 assault on the Pathankot Air Force base, and the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing.Azhar, a UN-designated global terrorist, has remained out of public view since April 2019. He founded the terror group in January 2000 with backing from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), senior Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden, and various Sunni sectarian groups in Pakistan, officials said.Muridke, located 30 km from Lahore, has served as the headquarters of LeT since 1990 under the leadership of Hafiz Saeed. The group, led by Saeed was behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and has orchestrated strikes across India, including in J&K, Bangalore, and Hyderabad, PTI reported citing officials.Among the nine sites targeted are the JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur and the LeT's in Muridke, both in Pakistan, they said. "A little while ago, the Indian Armed Forces launched 'OPERATION SINDOOR', hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed. Altogether, nine (9) sites have been targeted," the Centre said in a statement.Additionally, the Centre categorically said that "no Pakistani military facilities were targeted"."Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution," it said in a statement.The strikes came in response to the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 25 Indians and one Nepalese citizen.