New Delhi/IBNS: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has lauded the Indian army for conducting Operation Sindoor against Pakistan-based terrorist bases and said the forces "eliminated only those who killed our innocent people" in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam.

In his first public address since the operation on the intervening night of May 6 and 7, Singh also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for leading the retaliation against the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 tourists.

"It was a precise, careful and measured strike by the Indian Army. I thank the Army and laud the Prime Minister for this," Singh said.

"We eliminated only those who killed our innocent people... Only the training camps have been attacked using the right to respond," he added.

Nine terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) were targeted and destroyed in 25 minutes of Operation Sindoor, which was conducted a few minutes after 1 am on Wednesday by all three wings of the Army.

According to a statement by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), the operation was aimed at neutralizing terror camps actively involved in planning and executing attacks against India.

At a press briefing with the Army, Misry said, "The attack in Pahalgam was marked by extreme barbarity, with the victims mostly killed with head shots from 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..."

"Our intelligence monitory of Pakistan-based terrorist modules indicated that further attacks against India are impending. Thus, compulsion, both to deter and pre-empt. Earlier this morning, India exercised its right to respond and pre-empt as well as deter more such cross-border attacks.... These actions were measured and non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible. They focused on dismantling terrorists' infrastructure."

He added, "It was deemed essential that the perpetrators and planners of the 22nd attack be brought to justice. Despite a fortnight having passed since the attack, there has been no demonstrable step from Pakistan against terrorists' infrastructure in its area."

Pahalgam attack

On April 22, 2025, the terrorists- belonging to The Resistance Front (TRF), which is an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)- asked the victims to chant Islamic verses (kalma) and made them pull down their pants to be sure of their their non-Muslim religious identities (read circumcision)  before gunning them down before their families, including wives, children and daughters.

The massacre triggered nationwide outrage and escalated India-Pakistan tensions as New Delhi vowed to avenge the killings.

In an immediate response, India suspended the landmark Indus River water-sharing treaty and closed the Attari-Wagah road border, which acts as a lifeline of Indo-Pak trade and people-to-people ties, besides expelling diplomats, downsizing high commissions, and issuing a 48-hour deadline to Pakistani visa holders present in India to leave.