New Delhi: As part of its military response under Operation Sindoor, India has struck the headquarters of two of the most notorious terror outfits — Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) — located deep inside Pakistan’s Punjab province, news agency PTI reported quoting officials.
Among the nine terror sites targeted in the early hours were the JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur and the LeT headquarters in Muridke, both long-standing hubs of anti-India terror activities. A Pakistani armed forces spokesperson, in an interview with the BBC, acknowledged that Indian Air Force (IAF) strikes had hit both Bahawalpur and Muridke.
Focused and measured strikes
The Indian Ministry of Defence emphasised that the strikes were focused, measured, and non-escalatory, with no Pakistani military facilities targeted. The operation was launched around 1.44am, nearly two weeks after the Pahalgam terror attack of April 22 that left 26 people dead, including 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen.
In its official statement, the ministry said, “A little while ago, the Indian Armed Forces launched ‘Operation Sindoor’, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in the selection of targets and method of execution.”
Bahawalpur base a major centre for JeM activities
The Bahawalpur base has long been a major centre for JeM activities. It rose to prominence after Masood Azhar — JeM’s founder — was released in exchange for passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814 in 1999. Since then, JeM has orchestrated several high-profile attacks in India, including: The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly attack (2000), The Indian Parliament attack (2001), The Pathankot airbase strike (2016), The Pulwama suicide bombing (2019).
Azhar, designated a global terrorist, has remained out of public view since 2019. His outfit, JeM, is believed to have received backing from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), as well as former Taliban leadership, Osama bin Laden, and sectarian outfits in Pakistan.
Muridke, about 30km from Lahore, serves as the headquarters of LeT, led by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masterminded the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in 2008, which killed 166 people. The group has also been implicated in several other terror strikes across India, including in Jammu and Kashmir, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. Hafiz Saeed remains on India’s most-wanted list, and LeT is a UN-designated terrorist organisation.
