40 Pak soldiers, 100 terrorists killed; jets downed

India on Sunday said it caused tremendous losses to the Pakistan military, including downing its fighter jets featuring the latest technology and the death of its 35 to 40 military personnel during Operation Sindoor. Nearly 100 terrorists were also killed.

The details were shared at a press briefing of the three services. The Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai, said India lost five soldiers — two from the IAF on ground duties and three from the Army.

Asked about any loss of air assets such as fighter jets suffered by India, the Director General of Air Operations, Air Marshal AK Bharti, said, “We are in a combat scenario, losses are a part of combat”.

While the IAF officer did not deny losses, he refused to divulge details, saying, “At this point of time, I would not like to comment on that because we are still in a combat situation. If I comment on anything, it will only be an advantage to the adversary.”

“All our pilots are back home,” he said. “We have achieved our objective of decimating the terrorist camps,” he added.

To a question, Air Marshal Bharti said India definitely downed a few Pakistani planes but refused to hazard a guess on the numbers. “Their planes were prevented from coming inside our border. So we do not have the wreckage with us but definitely we have downed a few planes,” he said.

The DGMO said Pakistan would have to pay a heavy price if it resorted to any misadventure. “We have thus far exercised immense restraint and our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory. However, any threat to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and safety of our citizens will be met with decisive force,” he said.

On the losses to the Pakistani military, the DGMO said there were reports of 35 to 40 fatalities. Lt Gen Ghai said over 100 terrorists, including high-value targets such as Yusuf Azhar, Abdul Malik Rauf and Mudasir Ahmed, who were involved in the hijacking of IC 814 and the Pulwama blast, were eliminated during Operation Sindoor.

The operation was launched early on May 7 in retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack.

The DGMO said, “It set into motion a very diligent and microscopic scouring of the terror landscape across the borders and the identification of terror camps and training sites.”

India