NEW DELHI: The Border Security Force (BSF) has confirmed that it carried out a “deliberate and planned” strike on a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) launchpad located just three kilometers from the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan, in response to unprovoked cross-border shelling.
The operation was part of India’s broader retaliation to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
Addressing the media, BSF Inspector General (IG) Jammu Frontier, Shashank Anand, said Pakistan had initiated cross-border firing, to which Indian forces responded with full preparedness.
“As a result of this preparedness, we inflicted heavy damage on several Pakistani posts during the cross-border firing. We did not suffer any losses ourselves,” Anand said.
He added that India’s decisive action shook the enemy’s morale in the area. “On the night of May 8, when we carried out this operation, the enemy’s morale in that area was visibly shaken,” he said.
According to Anand, Pakistan intensified unprovoked firing the next day, moving northward along the international border. “On May 9 and 10, the BSF launched heavy shelling on Pakistan’s border belt. During this period, we had planned that if the opportunity arose, we would also strike the terrorist launch pads located near the international border,” he stated.
He confirmed that the BSF struck a Lashkar-e-Taiba launchpad in the Looni area of Pakistan. “As part of this operation, on the night of May 9 and 10, the BSF carried out a deliberate and planned attack on a Lashkar-e-Taiba launchpad in Looni, which is located in Pakistan just 3 kilometers from the international border,” Anand said.
BSF DIG Sector Sundarbani, Virender Dutta, said they had intelligence inputs about terrorist activity in the area. “After May 8, we received intelligence that 18-20 militants were present in Looni, and it was expected that they would attempt to infiltrate by taking advantage of the cross-border firing,” Dutta said.
“Their intention was likely to target our installations later. We executed a highly coordinated and well-planned operation in two phases to inflict maximum casualties. We achieved that goal, and Looni was completely destroyed,” he added.
The operation was part of Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7 in response to the Pahalgam attack. Over 100 terrorists from groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen were reportedly killed in the offensive.
Following the retaliatory strikes, Pakistan launched fresh cross-border shelling and attempted drone attacks across Jammu and Kashmir. In turn, India responded by targeting Pakistan’s radar systems, communication centers, and airfields across 11 airbases.
Hostilities de-escalated on May 10, when both nations agreed to a cessation of hostilities.
