Nagpur (Maharashtra) [India], May 7 (ANI): Several Nagpur residents on Wednesday celebrated Operation Sindoor executed by the Indian Armed Forces which struck nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).

Locals held tri-coloured flags; sang patriotic songs, and chanted slogans of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai!' (Victory for Mother India!)' and 'Vande Mataram!'

Earlier on Wednesday morning, the Indian Armed Forces launched strikes on nine locations inside Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and Pakistan. These included Bahawalpur, Muridke, and Sialkot, and five in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).

The Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force jointly carried out the operation, mobilising assets and troops. The strikes on all nine targets were successful. The Indian forces selected the locations to target top Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leaders involved in sponsoring terrorist activities in India.

Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in his media briefing on Operation Sindoor said that the attack on Pahalgam was driven by an objective of undermining the return of normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir.

'The attack in Pahalgam was marked with extreme barbarity, with the victims mostly killed with head shots at close range and in front of their family...the family members were deliberately traumatised through the manner of killing, accompanied by the exhortation that they should take back the message. The attack was clearly driven by the objective of undermining normalcy returning to Kashmir,' he said.

Vikram Misri said that Indian intelligence agencies have been monitoring terrorist activities and raised concerns regarding more terrorist attacks in India.

'Our intelligence indicated that further attacks against India are impending. Thus, compulsion, both to deter and prevent and hence earlier this morning, India exercised its right to respond to deter such more cross-border terrorism... Our actions were measured and non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible. They focused on dismantling terrorists' infrastructure,' he said.

Taking aim at Pakistan, the foreign secretary said that there had been no demonstrable step from Pakistan against the terrorists, and it was determined that the perpetrators of the attack had to be brought to justice. (ANI)