Operation Sindoor: Jaish HQ in Pakistan's Bahawalpur hit hardest with most potent weapons, says report

NEW DELHI: Jaish-e-Mohammed's headquarters in Pakistan's Bahawalpur, the command hub of the ISI-backed terror outfit was blown to bits in India's precision strikes under 'Operation Sindoor', ANI sources confirmed on Sunday.The strike, carried out nearly 100 kilometres deep inside mainland Pakistan, was described by sources as the most powerful of 'Operation Sindoor', involving India’s most potent weapon. The Indian armed forces flattened nine terror launchpads in total, but the hit on Bahawalpur stood out for its strategic and symbolic significance. Among the dead were ten members of JeM chief Masood Azhar’s family. Sources said the targeting of the Bahawalpur base was not incidental but deliberate, meant to dismantle the JeM leadership and deliver a direct message to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, the agency that founded and sustained Jaish for decades.In a statement the morning after the strike, Masood Azhar admitted to the heavy losses. "Ten members of my family are dead. It should have been me," he said, acknowledging the devastating blow dealt by the Indian operation.Masood Azhar, who rose to global infamy after being freed in the Kandahar hostage crisis, went on to form Jaish-e-Mohammed and spearhead a series of attacks that brought Indo-Pak relations to the brink. With 'Operation Sindoor', India has now directly targeted the epicentre of his network, Bahawalpur, marking a shift from tactical response to strategic deterrence.