By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Amid the heightened border tension after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, India on early Wednesday launched air strikes against nine terrorist targets in Pakistan and the POK areas which were almost destroyed.
Videos of huge explosions immediately went viral of the 25 minute-long operation “Sindoor” on the social media as the precision guided missiles were used to hit targets in one of the most deadly attacks.
Under the operation, the Indian armed forces dismantled terrorist camps belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). In the first target at around 1.04 AM, Abbas terrorist camp at Kotli, 13 km from the border, was hit and destroyed, the army said on X. This camp is considered to be the nerve centre for training suicide bombers of LeT.
“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,” an official statement said shortly after the air strikes began.
Altogether, nine sites have been targeted, the statement said. Most of the media reports said nearly 70 terrorists were killed in the strikes.
Pakistan threatened to hit back and said 26 people were killed in the Indian air strikes, media reports said. Nearly 10 people were killed in Poonch and other areas after Pakistan resorted to heavy shelling in the wake of the air strikes.
“Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution,” the statement further said adding These steps come in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed. “We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable,” a top official was quoted as saying.
US President Donald Trump said he knew something was going to happen and that he hoped it ends very quickly.
Russia expressed deep concern over the escalation of tension between the two countries and called for restraint. China and UN also called for restraint.