Sindoor, or vermilion powder, is a traditional marker of the marital status of Hindu women. Married women wear it either in the parting of their hair or on their foreheads, and they wipe it off if they become widowed. During the April 22 terrorist attack, many women lost their husbands, who were targeted because they were Hindu. But few received the media attention that Ms. Narwal has after the image of her by her husband’s side went viral. The Indian government’s choice of the name Operation Sindoor signaled its intention to avenge the widowed women. On social media, the Indian Army announced the strikes with a stark image that included a jar of spilled sindoor, which resembled spattered blood.
The Indian armed forces early Wednesday carried out 24 precision missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK), including Muridke and Bahawalpur – strongholds of terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), respectively.
More than 70 terrorists were killed and over 60 wounded in the strikes, sources said, as India significantly degraded the operational capability of these outfits. JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar claimed that 10 members of his family and four of his aides were killed in the strikes.
The attacks, which were carried out at around 1 am, were in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam in Jammu & Kashmir’s Anantnag district that claimed 26 lives – 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen – on April 22.
List of nine terror facility locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir that have been successfully neutralized by India:
- Markaz Subhan Allah, Bahawalpur – JeM
- Markaz Taiba, Muridke – LeT
- Sarjal, Tehra Kalan – JeM
- Mehmoona Joya, Sialkot – HM
- Markaz Ahle Hadith, Barnala – LeT
- Markaz Abbas, Kotli JeM
- Maskar Raheel Shahid, Kotli – HM
- Shawai Nalla Camp, Muzaffarabad – LeT
- Syedna Bilal Camp, Muzaffarabad – JeM
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TARGETS AND EXECUTION
The Indian Air Force conducted 24 missile and airstrikes over 23 minutes, focusing on facilities linked to the militant groups Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Key targets included:
- Bahawalpur: Headquarters of JeM leader Maulana Masood Azhar.
- Muridke: Base of LeT leader Hafiz Saeed.
- Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Sialkot, Bhimber, Chak Amru, Gulpur, and Tehra Kalan: Additional sites associated with terrorist infrastructure.
Indian officials emphasized that no Pakistani military facilities were targeted, and the strikes were described as “focused, measured, and non-escalatory”.
At least 12 civilians dead, over 50 injured in shelling by Pakistan in J&K
At least 12 civilians, including three women and three children, were killed, and 51 others injured as the Pakistan Army resorted to heavy mortar shelling and firing on villages, hitting scores of houses and vehicles in four districts close to the Line of Control (LoC) in J&K on Wednesday.
One Indian soldier was killed in “unprovoked shelling by Pakistani forces” close to the LoC in the Poonch sector, officials said.
The Pakistan Army’s intensification of mortar shelling in Rajouri and Poonch districts in the Jammu division, and Kupwara and Baramulla districts in the Kashmir Valley followed India’s ‘Operation Sindoor’ missile strikes on terror camps inside Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK) on Tuesday night.
LeT’s Markaz Taiba, where Kasab, other terrorists got trained struck in Operation Sindoor
Markaz Taiba of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Pakistan’s Muridke, one of the nine terror camps struck by the Indian armed forces on Wednesday, is a site where terrorists including Ajmal Kasab involved in the 2008 Mumbai attack were trained, a senior military official said.
Hours after the strike, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri alongside Col Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh briefed media on India’s operation. After the opening statement delivered by Misri, the two officers then shared details about the sites hit by the Indian forces.
RSS hails India’s action, terms it ‘beginning of justice’
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Wednesday (May 7, 2025) hailed India’s ‘defence’ action against Pakistan and added that Operation Sindoor is the beginning of justice for the Pahalgam victims. In his post on X, Sunil Ambekar, RSS national media and publicity department head, said that justice has been served through Operation Sindoor. “Beginning of justice for the victims of Pahalgam….. Nation supports,” he wrote.
“Jai Hind. Long live mother India,” he added