New Delhi: India on Sunday said it inflicted tremendous losses to the Pakistan military, including downing its fighter jets featuring latest technologies and damaging key military installations close to even capital Islamabad, during the three-day confrontation between the two sides.
Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai said 35-40 Pakistani military personnel were killed in the combat and New Delhi achieved its desired objectives and that Pakistan will have to pay a very heavy price if it resorts to any misadventure.
According to an Indian Express report quoting sources, India’s precision strikes at over a dozen military bases across Pakistan led to the destruction of nearly 20 percent of Pakistan Air Force infrastructure and several PAF fighter aircraft. The report further added that the strikes, in retaliation for Pakistani attempts to hit Indian military installations and civilian areas with armed drones and missiles, targeted major ammunition depots and air bases such as Sargodha and Bholari where PAF’s F-16 and J-17 fighter aircraft were stationed.
More than 50 people, including Squadron Leader Usman Yusuf and four airmen, lost their lives in the strike on the Bholari Air Base in Sindh’s Jamshoro district. The attack also resulted in the destruction of several Pakistan Air Force fighter jets, according to the reports. As part of retaliatory strikes during Operation Sindoor, India targeted military installations and the air bases of Nur Khan in Chaklala, Rafiqui in Shorkot, Murid in Chakwal, Sukkur, Sialkot, Pasrur, Chunian, Sargodha, Skardu, Bholari and Jacobabad.
At a media briefing, senior military officials of the Army, Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy provided details of Operation Sindoor, including how India repelled Pakistani attempts to target Indian military installations and civilian areas. To a question, Air Marshal AK Bharti said India definitely downed a few Pakistani planes but refused to hazard a guess on the numbers. “Their planes were prevented from coming inside our border. So we do not have the wreckage with us but definitely we have downed a few planes,” he said.
Asked about reports in the foreign media of losses of Indian fighter jets, Air Marshal Bharati said, “We are in a combat situation and losses are part of combat.” “All I can say is that we have achieved our objectives that we selected and all our pilots are back home,” he said. DGMO Lt Gen Ghai also paid tribute to five Indian fallen heroes and civilians who “tragically lost their lives” during Operation Sindoor.
“We have thus far exercised immense restraint and our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory. However, any threat to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and safety of our citizens will be met with decisive force,” he said