Two key targets of ‘Operation Sindoor’, Bahawalpur and Kotli, had been on the radar of the Indian Armed Forces six years ago during the Balakot airstrikes, sources told Times Now.
On the intervening night of May 6-7, India conducted precision strikes on terror camps in Pakistan to avenge the Pahalgam terror attack, where 26 civilians, mostly tourists, were brutally shot down in the Baisaran Valley. During ‘Operation Sindoor’, nine locations were chosen, namely, Muridke, Bahawalpur, Kotli, Gulpur, Bhimber, Chak Amru, Sialkot, and Muzaffarabad. Sources state that the locations were chosen strategically, most of which have been consistently used by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists to launch terror attacks on India.But what is interesting is that two of these locations, Bahawalpur and Kotli, were considered as options during the airstrikes at Balakot in 2019, which was carried out in retaliation against the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama, where 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives. Twelve days after the 2019 Pulwama attack, India launched a retaliatory airstrike on Balakot in Pakistan, where the Indian Air Force (IAF) struck terrorist camps with precision. Government sources indicated that nearly 300 terrorists were eliminated, with about 1,000 kg of bombs dropped on Jaish-e-Mohammed training facilities. While Bahawalpur and Kotli were on the radar even then, the army reportedly let it pass since strikes on them would have been considered an act of aggression.
Why Bahawalpur and Kotli were targeted under ‘Operation Sindoor’
Bahawalpur, located around 100 km from the Indian border, was amongst the primary targets of Operation Sindoor. The place served as the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammad, which has been responsible for multiple attacks on India.
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Operation Sindoor also targeted the Kotli camp, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) facility, just 15 km from the LoC opposite Rajouri. The camp is capable of housing around 50 terrorists at a time. Besides these two, the Indian armed forces also decimated terror camps at Muridke, the headquarters of Lashkar-e Taiba and Hafiz Saeed’s Jamaat Ud Dawa. Notably, a Lashkar offshoot had claimed responsibility for the April 22 Pahalgam attack, before backtracking.
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Here’s How Opposition Parties Reacted To ‘Operation Sindoor’All strikes under ‘Operation Sindoor’ were carried out with precision weaponry, including Rafale jets, SCALP missiles, HAMMER bombs, and loitering munitions, executed entirely from Indian territory with no breach of Pakistan airspace.