Border villages celebrate India's strikes on terror targets in Pak

Fifteen days after the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people, India carried out airstrikes on nine terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in the early hours of Wednesday.

- Senjuti Sengupta

BARMER/BIKANER: Following this, celebrations broke out in the bordering districts of Rajasthan.

In Barmer, residents of border villages like Ramsar, about 60 km from the Barmer district headquarters and located close to the Indo-Pak international border, burst firecrackers and raised slogans "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" to show support of the Indian Army and the government. Locals demanded that every terrorist hideout be destroyed.

Barmer resident Bhagirath Gosai said, "When I woke up at 4 am and checked my phone, I saw the news of the airstrike. I immediately turned on the TV, and there it was — India had struck nine Pakistani terror camps. It filled our hearts with pride and joy. Camps of groups like Lashkar and Jaish have been wiped out. The way terrorists targeted innocent people in Pahalgam after asking their religion — India has responded decisively. Our armed forces must continue to act against terrorism. We had full faith that the government would respond."

Another local, Vijay Sharma said: "Terrorists killed our innocent people. Today we received the news that India struck back at their bases. We're extremely happy. The death of our innocent people has been avenged. This is the kind of response Pakistan should get."