The Sindoor Playbook: How India Planned Its Operation Against Pakistan's Terror Camps

In the dead of night on May 7, for twenty-five minutes, India rained fire on Pakistan라이브 바카라 terror infrastructure, taking out two major headquarters of terror outfits and six training camps and launch pads, the government has said.

The strikes, codenamed Operation Sindoor, are a proportionate response to the April 22 attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, where four-six terrorists shot dead 26 people, New Delhi has said. India라이브 바카라 intelligence network has stated that Pakistan-based The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), planned the attack.

Citing precision technology, the government has said it specifically targeted key Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and LeT bases which have been involved in planning terror attacks against India. Reports from both Pakistan and India suggest that at least 70 people are dead. Delhi has said that 70 terrorists were killed.

“Terror camps in Pakistan and PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) have been neutralised. It is a matter of pride for us,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said. He added, “The precision with which Operation Sindoor was executed is unimaginable and highly praiseworthy. Nine terrorist camps were destroyed and a significant number of terrorists were eliminated. The operation was carried out without harming any innocents and with minimal collateral damage.”

Pakistan has claimed 31 civilian deaths and 57 injuries, which its military says were caused by Indian munitions missing their intended targets.

This is the first time since 1971 that India has fired into Pakistan, beyond the Line of Control (LoC). The LeT camp at Sawai Nala, Muzaffarabad, is located 30 kilometres inside the LoC. “While there have been other surgical strikes prior to this one, they have not been declassified and are not in the public domain. Operation Sindoor is different from earlier surgical strikes that we know of in three ways: one, we did not limit our attacks to Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, we also attacked terrorist camps in mainland Punjab—we struck five in PoK and four in mainland Punjab. Secondly, our forces did not cross the Line of Control,” explains Lt Col JS Sodhi (Retd).

Drawing on real-time reconnaissance and signals intercepts, India deployed Rafale fighter-bombers armed with SCALP cruise missiles, AASM Hammer glide bombs and loitering munitions to strike LeT, JeM and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) training facilities, command-and-control nodes and logistics hubs in Punjab, Sindh and PoK.

Since then, Pakistan라이브 바카라 army has retaliated by closing airspace, launching missile drones into Jammu and 14 other Indian cities including Jaisalmer, firing across the LoC and claiming to have shot down Indian jets—New Delhi has disputed any loss of aircraft. Internationally, Western powers, including Washington, Beijing and London, have asked both countries—each a nuclear power—to de-escalate. But, while US President Donald Trump offered to play mediator between India and Pakistan, US Vice President JD Vance has said the conflict is “none of our business”.

Pahalgam Terror Attack

Since April 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval have been under intense pressure to respond to the terror attack in a decisive manner. According to the MEA, India라이브 바카라 intelligence agencies had, for months, been monitoring unusual traffic on digital communication nodes linked to terrorist trainers operating from safe houses in Bahawalpur and Muridke. Meanwhile, the USA shared intelligence under COMCASA that provided satellite imagery confirming the presence of weapons stockpiles and training camps near the LoC.

Planning Operation Sindoor

According to the MEA, planning for Operation Sindoor began immediately after April 22 by the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India라이브 바카라 external intelligence agency and the Integrated Defence Staff. Sources said Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) units had taps on the mobiles of suspected handlers, which helped them pinpoint the six launching pad camps near the LoC.

On May 5, after a closed-door briefing, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, the top official in the external affairs ministry, said the strikes were to pre-empt further attacks on India. India라이브 바카라 RISAT radar satellites and commercially available high-resolution data helped give the army precise target coordinates with sub-metre accuracy. Reports suggest that military planners then assembled a strike package, including India라이브 바카라 front-line Rafale jets from the Ambala and Jamnagar bases. The Rafale fighter jets were equipped with advanced DPR capability, enabling pilots to engage targets beyond visual range. A pilot does not need to cross the border, as the aircraft라이브 바카라 sophisticated systems provide a clear view of the target from a safe distance, according to a former senior military official.

Striking Pakistan's 'Terror Nursery'

At 1:44 am on May 7, an AWACS aircraft over Rajasthan transmitted final clearance. Pilots were briefed on nine targets—from the 200-acre LeT facility in Bahawalpur to the makeshift firing range near Muzaffarabad—and got into position under radio silence.

When the clock struck, a quartet of Rafales got into position. Each was carrying four SCALP-EG cruise missiles programmed for terrain-hopping flight profiles, alongside AASM Hammer precision bombs for hardened structures. In less than 30 minutes, the first of six SCALPs targeted the training compounds outside Muridke. Within seconds, India also hit a JeM logistics hub in Bahawalpur, leaving dormitories and command-and-control servers in subterranean bunkers in rubble. Meanwhile, SkyStriker loitering drones—an Indo-Israeli collaboration—were used to verify movable targets before firing 30-kilogram warheads on them.

The missiles hit their targets within seconds, travelling at speeds faster than sound. The impact is almost instantaneous, with the only indication being a brief mechanical sound before the missile reaches its target. Indian command has claimed 70 militants were killed, including mid-level instructors previously wanted for training jihadi cadres bound for the Kashmir Valley. From across the LoC, JeM has claimed that Indian missiles killed 10 people related to its leader Masood Azhar, who is believed to be the mastermind of the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai. The UN Security Council has designated Azhar as an international terrorist.

Terror Camps India Targeted

Bahawalpur Seminary (Punjab): A 200-acre complex with underground bunkers, swimming pools and lecture halls used for indoctrinating recruits was struck by four SCALPs and two AASM bombs.

Muridke Firing Range (Punjab): An outdoor range for small-arms and IED deployment was hit by Hammer glide-bomb strikes.

Muzaffarabad Outpost (PoK): A site used for transporting militants across the border was struck by SkyStriker loitering drones.

Sialkot Safe House (Punjab): A nondescript farmhouse doubling as a covert cell-phone switching station was neutralised by low-observable cruise missiles.

Narowal Training Camp (Punjab): An open-field drill ground hidden under sugarcane fields was targeted by precision bombs.

Kotli Weapons Depot (PoK): A warren of containers storing rocket launchers and mortar rounds was destroyed by twin Hammer munitions.

Chakwal Communications Hub (Punjab): A raided mansion repurposed to host encrypted servers was attacked by loitering drones.

Rawalpindi Suburb Factory (Punjab): A facade electronics workshop assembling IED triggers was flattened by a combination of SCALPs and Hammers.

Lahore Outskirts Anti-Air Drill Site (Punjab): A mock-air defence array for training new recruits was hit by stand-off missiles to pre-empt future threats.

The headquarters and the launching pads are very different targets, says Major General Dhruv Katoch. He explains that the launching pads are generally small structures near the LoC, consisting of either tents or mud huts. “This is where terrorists are sent from training camps, and from here they enter India.” The infrastructure at such launchpads is basic at best. They may not even have basic facilities like toilets, as the terrorists do not spend more than a day or two there before crossing over under the cover of night, he adds.

Sodhi, who has also served in Jammu and Kashmir, says the training centres themselves are well-structured. “They have training programmes similar to ours in the Indian Army. They follow a set schedule, including graduation and post-graduation. Generally, in a terrorist training centre, there is a fixed and structured training programme, which includes physical fitness, weapon training, tactics and basic ammo charge concealment. All these things are taught to the terrorists, and most of the instructors at these training camps are retired soldiers from the Pakistan Army,” he says.

Typically, men are kept at the training camps for about six months to a year at most; sometimes, just for a few weeks, Katoch said. He added that part of the training programmes includes abuse and sexual assault to “break them down and build them up.” He noted that the recruits are often extremely young. “When I was commanding my battalion in the Machil sector in 1993, we intercepted a group that was crossing over, and we rescued seven young boys,” he recalls.

The grown men who are recruited into these camps are from extremely poor families, says Katoch. They are offered a couple of lakhs, which will go to their families in case they die, he adds.

According to a high-ranking army official, who has served in Kashmir, a distinctive aspect of Lashkar-e-Taiba is its recruitment from within Pakistani prisons, specifically targeting men on death row to join their cause. The official noted that many of these recruits are hardened criminals who have been sentenced to death in Pakistan.

International Reactions

With nuclear arsenals on both sides, the international community has called on India and Pakistan to de-escalate the situation. Additionally, the US consulate has instructed its diplomats in Lahore to either evacuate the city or take shelter.

Avantika Mehta is a senior associate editor based in New Delhi

This article is part of 바카라라이브 바카라 May 22, 2025 issue, ‘Is This War?’, covering the tense four-day standoff that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war. It appeared in print as 'The Sindoor Playbook'.