Operation Sindoor: Unlike the past, why India chose to strike deep in Pakistan

medium nocaption120961863“Our sindoor [vermilion, worn by married women] was wiped out by terrorists but today I am very happy that under Operation Sindoor, our armed forces destroyed terrorist bases in Pakistan.” This is how Pune resident Pragati Jagdale, whose husband Santosh was one of the 26 people killed in the Pahalgam terrorist attack, reacted to India’s precision strikes on nine terror targets, some located deep inside the neighbouring country, on May 7.India exercised its right to respond, pre-empt as well as deter more cross-border attacks such as the one in Pahalgam, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said at a media briefing, which was also addressed by Colonel Sofia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.No Pakistani military installations were targeted, the officials said, adding that the operation involved “precision technology to avoid collateral damage [civilian casualties]”.Misri said the actions were measured, non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible.During the half-an-hour operation that started at 1.05 am on May 7, India unleashed 24 missiles that struck nine terror camps, killing 70 terrorists, according to reports. medium nocaption120943329Why did India select targets deep inside Pak?Of the nine targets struck under 'Operation Sindoor', four were in Pakistan’s Punjab and five in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.In 2016, India had carried out a surgical strike in PoK, followed by air strikes in Balakot (in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) in 2019, in response to two deadly terror attacks.This time, targets included the headquarters of globally banned terror groups Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), located in Muridke and Bahawalpur in Punjab, respectively, besides that of Hizbul Mujahideen. medium nocaption120954611The 2008 Mumbai terror attacks accused David Headley and Tahawwur Rana had visited the LeT base and Ajmal Kasab and others had trained there. Al Qaeda terrorist Osama bin Laden, killed in 2011, had reportedly donated Rs 10 lakh for the construction of a guest house there.Military historian Srinath Raghavan recently told BBC that “since 2016 and especially after 2019, the threshold for retaliation has been set at cross-border or air strikes”, which means it would have been hard for the government to act below that now. The decision to strike at the core of Pakistan’s terror infrastructure is in line with the Modi government’s resolve to avenge the deaths of 26 tourists in the worst terror attack on civilians since the 26/11 Mumbai carnage.The Indian Air Force (IAF) executed the strikes after receiving intelligence inputs about terror camps that were operating under the guise of health centres, officials said.The selection of targets was done based on extensive intelligence, primarily due to Pakistan's changing strategies aimed at concealing terror camps and circumventing sanctions from international organisations, including the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global watchdog against money laundering and terror financing.JeM chief Masood Azhar claims 10 members of his family (including his elder sister and her husband, a nephew and his wife) and four close associates were killed in the Indian missile attack in Bahawalpur. #OperationSindoor | Indian Army releases videos of Indian strikes on Pakistani terror camps. Nine terrorist camps were targeted and successfully destroyed.

(Videos Source: Indian Army) pic.twitter.com/qqzCG5ae1S

— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2025 Which weapons did India useAccording to reports, ‘Operation Sindoor’ involved high-precision, long-range weapons such as SCALP cruise missile, the HAMMER smart bomb, and loitering munitions or kamikaze drones. SCALP: Also known as Storm Shadow, SCALP is a European air-launched cruise missile. It has a range of over 250 km. Weighing 1,300 kg, SCALP is specifically designed for precision strikes against high-value, stationary targets, such as fortified bunkers and key military infrastructure. IAF’s Rafales are armed with SCALP missiles. Last year, Ukraine reportedly employed the same missile to carry out strikes on targets deep within Russian territory for the first time. HAMMER: The HAMMER (Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range) is a standoff munition with a range of 50-70 km that can destroy hardened infrastructure, including reinforced bunkers and multi-storey buildings. The French-made Hammer is designed to withstand electronic jamming and can be deployed from low altitudes, even in rugged terrain. Its advanced capabilities to avoid interception and penetrate fortified defences make it an exceptionally effective strike weapon.It is believed India used this bomb to hit LeT and JeM bases. Loitering munitions: These GPS-enabled “kamikaze” (suicide) drones are used for surveillance, target acquisition, and terminal strike roles. They hover over a target area, crash into it and explode.Last December, the Indian Army reportedly procured 480 indigenously-developed Nagastra-1 loitering munitions.Ukraine has extensively used such drones in its ongoing conflict with Russia. medium nocaption120948776What’s Pak’s response?Shortly after India’s Operation Sindoor, Pakistan army resorted to heavy artillery and mortar shelling targeting forward villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, leaving nine people dead and 41 injured. The Indian Army is responding to the shelling in a “befitting” manner, resulting in many casualties on the enemy side after several of their posts engaged in firing were destroyed.The worst-hit in the Pakistani shelling was Poonch district which accounted for all the civilian deaths.The indiscriminate shelling by Pakistan created panic among the border residents who were forced to take refuge in underground bunkers or shift to safer places within or outside their villages, the officials said.Is Pak running out of artillery ammo?It turns out that Pakistan Army is facing an acute shortage of artillery ammunition, barely enough for four days of high-intensity conflict, news agency ANI reported citing intelligence sources.Pakistan’s ordnance factories are facing significant challenges in restocking their inventory, primarily due to a surge in global demand and outdated manufacturing infrastructure. It is believed Pakistan’s clandestine arms exports to Ukraine (Islamabad officially denies this charge to please Moscow) have further depleted its military reserves.The shortage of ammunition has placed a considerable strain on Pakistan's military readiness. This shortfall has a direct and detrimental impact on the army’s ability to withstand a potential offensive from India.Sources suggest that the matter was discussed at length during Pakistani army commanders’ conference held on May 2, 2025, days after India vowed a “befitting” response to the Pahalgam carnage perpetrated by Pakistani terrorists. Additionally, Pakistan's ongoing economic struggles – marked by soaring inflation, mounting debt, and dwindling foreign currency reserves – have further strained military operations. So much so that the army has been forced to scale back essential activities, cutting food supplies, halting routine military drills, and canceling planned war games due to fuel shortages, according to the report.TOI+ complete coverage of Operation Sindoor here