Exclusive: Satellite Pics Show India Attack Split Pak Terror Camps Into Half

New high-resolution satellite imagery with NDTV shows, for the first time, the impact of Indian precision strikes against two major terrorist training camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) during Operation Sindoor last month. While the armed forces have not identified the weapons used in the attack, it is believed that both were targeted with loitering drones.

The images are of two camps, the Syedna Bilal Camp in Muzaffarabad, 36 kilometres west of Tangdhar in Kashmir, and the Kotli Gulpur camp, which is 40 kilometres west of Rajouri in Jammu. Both were struck in the early hours of May 7, when India targeted multiple terrorist infrastructure sites in Pakistan and PoK following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 civilians lost their lives.

It was the worst terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since the Chattisinghpora massacre in March 2000, in which 36 Sikhs were killed.

Syedna Bilal

The Syedna Bilal Camp in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, was a key staging area for terrorists affiliated with the Jaish-e-Mohammed. The camp also served to train terrorists in weapons handling, jungle survival and explosives and ordnance.

The before and after images of the strike show a group of interconnected buildings (81 x 92 feet) having been taken out in what appears to be a drone strike. There is no collateral damage in the area.

Interconnected buildings damaged at Syedna Bilal camp. High res here

According to army sources, recruits were sent to Syedna Bilal for specialised training in June 2023. They were being prepared to be launched across the Line of Control in Uri and Keran sectors with the aim of targeting the railway bridge between Kathua and Ramban.

Post training, these terrorists were transported to staging camps and launch pads in Pakistan's Punjab, where they received specialised communication training.

After the training, they were divided into groups of four to eight terrorists and were infiltrated into India through the International Border between March and May 2024.

The majority of terror attacks in Jammu last year were executed by these terrorists.

Top JeM terrorists, including Mufti Asghar Khan Kashmiri, Amir JeM, Abdullah Jehadi and Ashiq Negroo, regularly visited the camp.

Guest houses were also built near the camp for senior JeM commanders visiting Muzaffarabad.

Army sources said the camps are known to be backed and protected by Pakistan's intelligence, particularly the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which provides training, weapons, and safe passage for terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir.

''These images of precision strikes at the terrorist camps at Kotli and Muzzafarabad, without any collateral damage, are a clear display of Indian capability,'' Lieutenant General Satish Dua (retired), who commanded the Srinagar-based 15 Corps responsible for military operations in the Kashmir Valley, said.

''For decades, we felt helpless that despite knowing their precise locations, we could not strike at the terror camps due to self-imposed restrictions in the nuclear backdrop. But Pahalgam changed all that," he added.

These Maxar satellite images of the strike on the Syedna Bilal Camp in Muzaffarabad back on-ground photographs of the attack published by the German news outlet TRT Deutsch.

Kotli

The second set of images focuses on the Gulpur camp in Kotli. It shows buildings which are believed to be a base camp of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group involved in attacks in the Rajouri-Poonch area of Jammu.

The satellite imagery shows a structure, 110 x 30 feet, having been split right down the centre. The roof of a smaller structure right next to this building was also severely damaged.

Before and after images of damage at a base camp of the LeT group involved in attacks in Jammu's Rajouri-Poonch area. High res here

The government believes that the terrorists trained here had carried out attacks in Poonch in 2023 and on a bus of pilgrims last year.

According to army sources, the training facility was a well-established LeT training centre, where a large number of terrorists, including suicide bombers, were undergoing advanced combat training.

The site, which had also had residential facilities, was harbouring 30-50 terrorists and their trainers. It was used by terrorists who have been trying to revive terrorism in the Poonch and Rajouri region in recent years. The training facility was being actively used by more than one terror group, army sources said.

It was a known centre for guerrilla warfare, survival training and arms training to Pakistani terror outfits.

The camp was temporarily shut down post the Balakot strike by India in 2019, but is said to have resumed training activities for terrorists in 2020.

"Much of our attention during Operation Sindoor has been focused on the strikes at Muridke, Bahawalpur, and attacks on Pakistani airfields. However, the strikes carried out on terror camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir are equally significant," Lt General DS Hooda (retired), who was India's Northern Army Commander when the Army launched 'surgical strikes' into Pakistani territory in 2016, said.

''It is from these camps that terrorists carry out close reconnaissance of infiltration routes, and the final training and planning before entering into Indian territory. Destruction of this infrastructure would have an immediate effect on the morale of terrorists and their ability to conduct attacks in both the Jammu and Kashmir regions," he said.

Operation Sindoor

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 and struck nine infrastructure sites linked to groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen.

The strikes lasted from 1:05 AM to 1:30 AM.

While four of the targets were in Pakistan - Bahawalpur, Muridke, Sialkot, and a village near Shakar Garh, five targets were in PoK - Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Bhimber, Rawalakot, and Chakswari.

It is believed that more than 100 terrorists were killed in the strikes.

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