‘Strike where it hurt the most’— what Indian Navy, Air Force, Army DGMOs said on Operation Sindoor | 10 key takeaways

Pakistan violates ceasefire: In an over hour long briefing a day after Pakistan violated its "bilateral understanding" with India to halt firing, Air Marshal AK Bharti told the media that the Indian military had struck Pakistan where it “hurt the most.”

“Decision was taken to strike where it would hurt the most. We struck Pak airbases across the Western front” Air Marshal AK Bharti said on Sunday, May 11.

The DGMOs of all the three Defence services – Army, Navy and the Air Force, addressed a briefing on Operation Sindoor on Sunday. Operation Sindoor was India's retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attacks on April 22 that killed 26 civilians.

35-40 Pak Army personnel; 100+ terrorists killed — 10 key points

1. Over 100 terrorists killed: During India's Operation Sindoor on May 7, more than 100 terrorists were killed, including high value targets such as Yusuf Azhar, Abdul Malik Rauf and Mudasir Ahmed. They were involved in the hijack of IC814 and the Pulwama blasts in 2019 that shook India, said DGMO Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai.

The Armed Forces also added that around 35-40 Pakistan Army personnel were also killed.

2. ‘They sent drones in waves…’: Hours after agreeing to ceasefire, Pakistan had sent “drones in waves.” Consequently the Indian military decided to “strike where it hurt the most,” and carried out precision strikes at six airbases: Chaklala in Rawalpindi, Murid in Chakwal, Rafiqui in Shorkot, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur and Chunian, said Air Marshal AK Bharti.

3. ‘Civilian aircraft allowed to fly out of Lahore’: During Pakistan's strikes on India on May 8, Pakistan had even allowed a civilian aircraft, icluding the international ones,o fly out of Lahore. Air Marshal AK Bharti criticised the act, stating that it was “extremely insensitive” on the “enemy's” part, and India also had to be very cautious.

4. ‘Ceasefire just to immediately stop’: During the briefing, the DGMOs clarified that the ceasefire was not for three days, but was just to immediately stop firing for 36 hours.

5. Five Indian defence personnel killed: DGMO Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai paid tribute to five Indian defence personnel who were killed over the course of the operation, and Pakistan's subsequent firing.

6. ‘If Pakistan dares any action’: Without divulging any specific details, DGMO AM Pramod asserted that if “Pakistan dares any action, it knows what we (India) will do.”

7. ‘Pak called for ceasefire’: During the briefing, the DGMOs also said that DGMO of Pakistan sent the hotline message, making an urgent request for ceasefire.

8.‘LoC was also violated, rattled response’: DGMO Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai said that soon after the ceasefire agreement, Pakistan violated the Line of Control (LoC). The “erratic and rattled response of our enemy was apparent from the number of civilians, inhabited villages and religious sites such as Gurudwaras that were unfortunately hit by them, leading to a sad loss of lives,” Ghai told the media.

9. ‘Targeted terrorists, they targeted our civilians’: During the briefing, Air Marshal Bharti told the media that “we (India) targeted terrorists, while they (Pakistan) targeted our civilians,” because of which India was left with no choice but to retaliate, which was again “precise, calibrated.”

10. ‘Would not like to put a figure’: In response to a reporter's question, Air Marshal AK Bharti said the Indian Air Force had "downed a few planes (Hi-Tech) and I (he) would not like to put a figure at this time.