Precision strikes: Missiles for military, drones for intel sites helped India achieve twofold goal

India resorted to a mix of precision strikes with drones targeting key Pakistani security and intelligence facilities and attacks with heavier long-range weapons such as the BrahMos cruise missile on terrorist and military infrastructure during Operation Sindoor, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday, adding that the purpose was twofold.

- Rezaul H Laskar

NEW DELHI:

The drone strikes carried out in the initial stage, particularly on May 8, that targeted important military installations were meant to signal the reach of the weaponry of the armed forces. The use of heavier weaponry, particularly the BrahMos missile, which has a range of about 450km for the air-launched version and about 800km for the land version, was meant to inflict greater damage on terrorist infrastructure and military facilities, the people said on condition of anonymity.

Among the locations that were targeted with drones in the strikes on May 8 were the Pakistan Army's General Headquarters, the Strategic Plans Division (SPD) and a wing of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) dealing with Kashmir in Rawalpindi, the residence of the army's corps commander in Lahore in Punjab province, and a few locations within Malir cantonment in Karachi in Sindh province, the people said.