New Delhi, May 8: Operation Sindoor has destroyed nine terrorist sites located deep within Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), according to sources. Over 100 terrorists are believed to have been eliminated through a series of precision strikes carried out by the Indian Armed Forces in the early hours of Wednesday.
The operation was launched in retaliation for the recent terror attack in Pahalgam and is still ongoing, making it difficult to confirm the exact number of casualties at this time, officials said.
The strikes targeted key infrastructure linked to three major terror outfits—Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Hizbul Mujahideen. Of the nine camps hit, four were situated within Pakistan, while five were located in PoJK.
In Pakistan, the targeted locations included Bahawalpur, Muridke, Sarjal, and Mehmoona Joya. Among the most significant was the JeM's Markaz Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur, operational since 2015. This facility functions as JeM’s headquarters for training and operational planning and is notably linked to the 2019 Pulwama attack. It also houses top leadership, including JeM Chief Maulana Masood Azhar, his de facto deputy Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar, and other family members.
In Muridke, the Markaz Taiba—established in 2000 in Nangal Sahdan, Sheikhupura, Punjab—is considered the primary training center for LeT. This facility combines arms and physical training with radicalization programs and draws recruits from both within Pakistan and abroad. It enrolls approximately 1,000 students annually. The center is also known for training the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, including Ajmal Kasab, who received intelligence training known as Daura-e-Ribbat there.
(With agency inputs)
