Pakistan is understood to have lost over 100 military personnel along the Line of Control during Operation Sindoor, Indian Army’s Director General Military Operations Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai said on Tuesday, citing list of awards conferred posthumously by that country’s military.
The top military official also said that Pakistan lost at least 12 aircraft during the conflict in May while echoing the details shared by Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal A P Singh a few days ago.
Lt Gen Ghai also said that the Indian Navy was fully ready to play its part and if Pakistan had decided to continue with the hostilities any further, it could have been “catastrophic for it, not only from the sea but from other dimensions as well”.
Sharing certain details of the May 7-10 hostilities, Lt Gen Ghai said Pakistan had resorted to cross-border firing immediately after India pounded nine terror targets on May 7.
“Pakistanis possibly unwittingly let out their awards list last month on the 14th of August, and the number of posthumous awards that they awarded suggests to us now that their casualties on the LoC were also in excess of 100.
“We went after terrorists, and once that had been achieved, it wasn’t our intention to escalate it unless compelled to do so. There was also cross-border firing by Pakistan immediately once the terror targets were engaged,” he said.
“Pakistanis possibly unwittingly let out their awards list on August 14, and the number of posthumous awards that they awarded suggests to us now that their casualties on the LoC were also in excess of 100,” Lt Gen Ghai said.
The Director General Military Operations (DGMO) even said Pakistan’s drone attacks against India was a “dismal failure”.
He said Pakistan sent drones even after the two DGMOs had spoken.
“A variety and class of drones were utilised in an attempt to cause casualties and damage to (our) men and material. But everything was a dismal failure,” he said.
The attacks, he said, led to the Indian Air Force’s precision strikes on Pakistan installations on the intervening night of May 9 and 10.
“We hit 11 of their air bases. If you see, eight air bases, three hangars and four radars were damaged. Pakistani air assets were destroyed on the ground as well,” he said.
Lt Gen Ghai said the Pakistani losses on the ground included one C-130 class of aircraft and one one AEW&C (Airborne Early Warning & Control), four to five fighter jets.
He said Pakistan also suffered losses in the air.
“We now know that the world’s longest ever ground-to-air kill was at 300 kilometres plus and five high-tech fighters (were hit). I think the impunity with which these attacks were carried out is what is significant,” he said.
In response to the Pahalgam terror attack, India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terrorist infrastructure in territories controlled by Pakistan.
The strikes triggered four days of intense clashes that
ended with an understanding on stopping the military actions on May 10.
Lt Gen Ghai also mentioned killing of the three terrorists in June who carried out the Pahalgam attack, adding the Army was determined to “chase them to the depths of hell and we did”.
“It took us 96 days but we did not let them rest,” he said.
When these three terrorists were found and eliminated clinically, it seemed as if they were exhausted from running, and they also seemed very malnourished, he said.
“Often, people can turn around and tell you where they have vanished. But it is at times, like searching for a needle in a haystack. While it may seem very simple to the non discerning, these things take time,” he said.
Lt Gen Ghai said there has been a “doctrinal shift in our strategy against terror”.
“Our prime minister has spoken about it. And these are the three things he said. The terror attacks are an act of war. Therefore there will be decisive retaliation. We will not succumb to nuclear blackmail. And there is no distinction between terrorists and sponsors of terrorism,” he said. (Agencies)
