Three civilians were killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch sector late Tuesday as Pakistan resorted to 'arbitrary and indiscriminate firing', and artillery shelling, across the Line of Control and the International Border, the Army said, adding that a 'proportionate response' had been made.
Pakistan confirmed nine civilian deaths on its side from India's response.
READ | Pak Army Suffers Casualties As India Retaliates To Artillery Firing: Sources
The firing and shelling came hours after India launched precision strikes at terror training camps - run by the Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Lashkar-e-Taiba - inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The camps were hit at 1.44 am in a first tri-services operation - i.e., a joint attack by the Army, Navy, and Air Force - against Pakistan since the 1971 war. The operation was codenamed 'Sindoor'.
Government sources told NDTV an estimated 70 terrorists were killed and another 60 injured, "significantly degrading the operational capability of these groups".
India had said earlier it has proof - material shared last month with diplomats from the United States, Russia, China, and major European nations - the Pak deep state planned the Pahalgam attack.
The Resistance Front, an offshoot of Pak-based Lashkar, had claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack, in which 26 people, mostly civilians, were gunned down at a tourist hotspot.
The sites were Bahawalpur, Muridke, Gulpur, Sawai, Kotli, Sarjal and Barnala, and Mehmoona.
Bahawalpur was the HQ of the Jaish and a planning hub for major attacks, sources told NDTV, while Muridke was the Lashkar base that trained terrorists who carried out the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai.
READ | India Strikes 4 Terror Bases In Pak, 5 In POK As Reply To Pahalgam
Gulpur was the launchpad for attacks in J&K's Rajouri and Poonch between 2023 and 2024; among the attacks that were launched from here were a string of targeted civilian killings.
Sawai was a Lashkar camp linked to multiple attacks on India, including the Pahalgam horror.
Koti was a training hub. Sarjal and Barnala were sites close to the LoC and International Border, and were used for infiltration purposes. Mehmoona, meanwhile, was a Hizbul Mujahideen camp.
READ | Bahawalpur To Kotli: Why These Sites Were Targeted In 'Op Sindoor'
The Indian military used a variety of ammunition - from the SCALP long-range, air-launched cruise missile to the Hammer, a stand-off smart bomb meant for bunker-busting raids - in the attack.
Also used were 'loitering munitions' - drone-borne missiles that can hover over a target area to locate and strike targets, either autonomously or guided by human hands, before exploding.
