Operation Sindoor: Pakistan Army commander abandoned battlefield, hid in a mosque, refused to resume operation after…
Operation Sindoor: The precision strikes by Indian armed forces during Operation Sindoor not only accomplished their intended task of razing terror infrastructures inside Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) to rubble, but the lethality and pinpoint accuracy of the Indian military strikes also sent shivers down the spine of the Pakistan Army, with many of its top commanders reportedly abandoning their posts and seeking safety inside nearby structures as Indian forces rained down hellfire upon them.
Pak Army commander abandoned post, refused to return
Citing Indian Army sources, a report by news agency IANS said that intercepted communication have revealed how a commander of the Pakistani Army’s 75th Infantry Brigade, stationed near the Line of Control (LoC) in Muzaffarabad, PoK, abandoned his office, and refused to return to his post.
When contacted by junior officers about reopening of the office, the commander told them to save their lives first. “The office will open later, save your lives first,” he replied, according to the report.
Another intercept showed how a Pakistan Army commander fled the battlefield and hid inside a nearby mosque to escape wrath of Indian Armed Forces as they devastated terror structures in PoK. “Our commander sahab escaped with great difficulty. He’s offering namaz in a mosque. He’s sent his men here and said he will return only when things calm down,” Junior officers of the Pakistan Army were heard as saying, according to the IANS report.
Operation Sindoor
On May 7 midnight, Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor, a series of deadly, precision strikes on terror infrastructures deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The missile strikes on terror camps were carried out to avenge last month’s heinous Pahalgam terror attack in which terrorists gunned down 26 civilians, mostly Indian Hindu tourists in Kashmir valley.
In a press briefing in national capital New Delhi Delhi hours after the military strikes, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh revealed the details and objectives of Operation Sindoor. They said that a total of nine terror camps of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and Hizbul Mujahideen, were targeted by Indian forces, four of which are in mainland Pakistan while the remaining in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
According to details, more than 70 terrorists and their sympathizers, including 10 family members and four close aides of JeM chief Masood Azhar, were killed in the strikes. Lashkar founder Hafiz Saeed was also reportedly injured in the assault, while his close aide was killed.
In a statement, the Pakistan Army claimed that as many as 26 ‘civilians’ were killed and 46 injured in the Indian strikes launched shortly after midnight on cities in the Punjab province and PoK.
Panic, chaos among Pakistan Army ranks
According to military communication intercepts, Indian strikes triggered panic and chaos among the Pakistan Army ranks, which was compounded by casualties of soldiers and officers. Captain Hasnain Shah of the 16th Baloch Regiment was killed in the Haji Peer sector during Operation Sindoor strikes, and his body was reportedly brought back to Abbottabad by the 6th Pakistani Brigade, according to one intercept.
The Muzaffarabad-based 75th Infantry Brigade was among the Pakistan Army units targeted by Indian forces in their cross-border assault on terror sites during Operation Sindoor.
As per the Indian Army, at least 64 Pakistani soldiers were killed and over 96 wounded in India’s retaliatory strikes after Pakistan launched drones and missiles into India post the May 7 strikes.
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