After “effectively neutralising” six of the nine terror locations falling opposite Poonch, Rajouri and Akhnoor in Jammu on the night of May 6-7, Indian troops prepared to respond to Pakistani aggression, said the Commander of an Army Brigade at Poonch on Tuesday. Referring to the Poonch Brigade’s engagement in the “intense and continous operations during Operation Sindoor to blunt and respond to the unprovoked aggression by Pakistan across the Line of Control”, Commander Poonch Brigade, Brig Mudit Mahajan, said, “To that extent, Poonch Brigade was not a part but the heart of Operation Sindoor. We did not wait to react; we prepared to respond.” Official sources said that while targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK, the Indian Army also moved its T-72 tanks and BMP-2 armoured personnel carriers up to the Line of Control as a preemptive move. Sources said the tanks targeted Pakistani posts that were facilitating the infiltration of terrorists into J&K. The Pahalgam terror attack was met with a “calibrated response” from the Indian Army, initially focusing solely on terrorist infrastructure, Brig Mahajan said, adding, “The Army struck with unmatched precision and purpose – six of nine critical terrorist targets struck were opposite Poonch, Rajouri and Akhnoor and these were neutralised effectively that night.” “Only when the Pakistan Army escalated by indiscriminately targeting civilian areas did the Indian Army decisively shift to hitting their military assets,” he said. “As the enemy unleashed a new threat of drone swarms, it was the Indian Army’s air defence that truly emerged as the shining shield — demonstrating exceptional skill, resilience, and cutting-edge coordination to intercept every aerial menace,” he said. “The Pakistani Army losses were not just in numbers but in morale and initiative,” he said. “So far, we have inputs of imposing heavy numbers in fatal and non-fatal casualties upon the enemy.” Pointing out that Operation Sindoor is not over but only remains suspended for the time being, he said that the Indian Army “remains alert and ready, and if challenged again, we will respond yet again not with words but fire and resolve of the nation.”
