India claims killing 70 people in Pakistan

Seventy terrorists were killed as India carried out 24 missile strikes across nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to avenge the Pahalgam terror attack, sources in the government have said.

Operation Sindoor, the sources said, was more than a military response. “It was a statement of strategic resolve. Through 24 precisely coordinated missile strikes across nine terrorist-linked locations, India demonstrated that it would no longer tolerate cross-border terrorism, nor the complicity of state institutions that enable it,” a source said.

The counterstrike left more than 60 terrorists injured across the nine target locations -- Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Bahawalpur, Rawalakot, Chakswari, Bhimber, Neelum Valley, Jhelum, and Chakwal.

These locations, the sources said, were identified as hubs of terrorist activity. The precision missiles targeted camps affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad. The sources said the counterattack has significantly degraded the operational capability of these terror groups.

Pakistan has said at least 9 civilians died, 38 were injured and two are missing. The collateral damage, Indian government sources said, was “minimised through precision targeting”. No Pakistani military installations were hit, they stressed.

Sources in the government said Indian intelligence had cited clear evidence of the Pakistan Army’s logistical support to terror groups. The strikes aimed to expose and dismantle this deep-rooted nexus between the military and cross-border terrorism, they said.

Government sources said that while global powers had urged both sides to exercise restraint, India has received support for its right to self-defence.

(With inputs from NDTV)