On Balakot Strike List, 2 Operation Sindoor Targets. Why They Were Dropped

Two of the key targets in "Operation Sindoor" -- precision strikes on terror camps in Pakistan by the army and air force early today -- were on the army radar five years ago when the Balakot strikes happened, sources said. But the army let it pass since strikes on them would have been considered an act of aggression. 

Sources said Pakistan's Bahawalpur and Kotli, were considered as options during the air strikes at Balakot - made in retaliation against the massive terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama. 

Bahawalpur is the headquarters of Jaish-e Mohammad.

This time, along with Bahawalpur, the Indian armed forces have also decimated terror camps at Muridke, the headquarters of Lashkar-e Taiba and Hafiz Saeed's Jamaat Ud Dawa. 

A Lashkar offshoot has claimed responsibility for the massacre at Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, where 26 people, most of them tourists, were shot dead on April 22.

While India has carried out strikes at nine sites, Pakistan has confirmed only three -- Bahawalpur, Kotli and Muzaffarabad.

In a statement, the army said the operation "underscores India's resolve to hold perpetrators accountable while avoiding unnecessary provocation... no Pakistani military facilities were hit, reflecting India's calibrated and non-escalatory approach".

Following the Pahalgam attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given a free hand to the armed forces regarding retaliation. His office said today that he had monitored the operation throughout.

Earlier, a series of diplomatic measures were initiated against Pakistan.