Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 7: India has released multiple videos showing its armed forces striking terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) early Wednesday, while the ruling BJP also shared videos of the Jaish-e-Mohammed headquarters being demolished in Punjab province’s Bahawalpur.
Taking to X, BJP’s IT department in-charge Amit Malviya said Markaz Subhan Allah, the headquarters of the Masood Azhar-run terrorist organisation JeM, was demolished in Indian strikes under “Operation Sindoor.”
“This facility was a key hub for orchestrating terror operations, including the Pulwama attack on Feb 14, 2019. The perpetrators of the bombing were trained at this very site. Demolished,” Malviya said in his post.
Nine terrorist camps linked to groups like Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen were targeted and destroyed under “Operation Sindoor.” One of the first targets was the Markaz Abbas terrorist camp at Kotli in PoK. It was a “nerve centre for training suicide bombers” of the LeT and a key training infrastructure for over 50 terrorists, the Army said.
Another video of the 25-minute strike shows India destroying the Gulpur camp in Kotli, a Lashkar-e-Taiba base about 30 kilometres from the Line of Control (LoC). The terrorists involved in the April 2023 Poonch attack in which five Army personnel were killed and the June 2024 pilgrim bus attack in which nine people were killed, were trained at the Gulpur camp, officials said.
The Sarjal camp in Sialkot, six kilometres from the international border, was also destroyed in the strikes. The terrorists who killed four Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel in March were trained at this place, officials said. India also struck the headquarters of JeM in Bahawalpur and the LeT in Muridke, both in Pakistan’s Punjab.
While Bahawalpur, 100 kilometres from the international border, saw frequent visits by top terrorists, Muridke was a camp where Ajmal Kasab, one of the terrorists behind the Mumbai attacks that left 166 people dead in 2008, and David Headley, the mastermind of the attacks, took training.
The Mahmoona Jaya camp in Sialkot, which is about 12 to 18 kilometres from the international border, was also destroyed. It was linked to Hizbul Mujahideen and was the “control centre for spreading terror” in the Kathua-Jammu region, officials said.
The Sawai Nala camp in Muzaffarabad, which is 30 kilometres from the LoC in Tangdhar Sector, and was a key LeT training facility, was also struck. The Syedna Belal camp in Muzaffarabad, used to train terrorists in weapons, explosives and jungle cum survival techniques for carrying out terrorist activities across LoC in Kashmir region, was also targeted.
The Barnala camp in Bhimber, about 9 kilometres from LoC, was also destroyed. It was used for providing training to terrorists in weapon handling, IED making and jungle survival techniques, officials said.
Addressing a press conference foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has said it was “deemed essential” that the perpetrators and planners of the Pahalgam attack be brought to justice. These actions were “measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible” and were focused on “dismantling” the terrorist infrastructure and disabling terrorists likely to be sent across to India, he said.
“Despite a fortnight having passed since the attacks, there has been no demonstrable step from Pakistan to take action against the terrorist infrastructure on its territory or on territory under its control. Instead, all it has indulged in are denials and allegations,” Mr Misri said. “Our intelligence monitoring of Pakistan-based terrorist modules indicated that further attacks against India were impending. There was thus a compulsion both to deter and to pre-empt,” he added.
India has successfully destroyed the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror headquarters and training facility in Bahawalpur, dealing a crushing blow to the organisation and its terror-backing efforts amid India’s fight against terrorism.
Once a key base for terrorist operations, the site has been reduced to rubble, signalling a strong response to ongoing cross-border threats. Videos show the extent of damage caused to the terrorist base. Although bodies could not be seen in the available video but fallen slabs could be seen.
Notably, the JeM has been responsible for multiple attacks on Indian soil over the past two decades. Bahawalpur is deep inside Pakistan and is the 12th largest city, serving as the nerve centre of the terror group.
Pakistan, which earlier termed any military action by India as an “act of war,” said it has authorised the armed forces to respond. Accusing India of targeting civilian areas, the government said Pakistan reserves the right to respond, “in self-defence, at a time, place, and manner of its choosing.” It said the Armed Forces of Pakistan have duly been authorised to “undertake corresponding actions in this regard.”
The Indian government said there are no reports of any civilian casualties, fact-checking Pakistan’s claims of civilian areas being targeted in the attack. Indian Army sources confirmed that the objective was to dismantle launchpads and camps used by terror groups operating from across the Line of Control (LoC).
