Nine Targets: What the Indian Military Says It Hit on the Pakistani Side and Why

New Delhi: On Wednesday (May 7) morning, hours after announcing military strikes against “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, India provided details of its nine targets. The details were given at a joint press briefing by foreign secretary Vikram Misri, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi of the Indian army and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh of the Indian air force.

The two officers said that the selection of the targets was based on “credible intelligent inputs and role of these facilities in perpetrating the terror activities” and that the locations were selected to “avoid damage to civilian infrastructures and loss of any civilian lives”.

The nine targets included five in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Sawai Nala, Syedna Bilal in Muzaffarabad, Gulpur and Abbas in Kotli, and Barnala in Bhimber) and four inside Pakistan (Bahawalpur, Muridke, Sarjal and Mehmoona Joya).

The briefing also included images and videos of the targets that were struck.

Information about the targets first emerged in hastily shot video footage of burning buildings from different places inside Pakistan, especially Bahawalpur.

At 4:38 am IST, Pakistan’s chief military spokesperson named six locations in Pakistan that he said had been targeted. Four of these were in Punjab: Bahawalpur, Muridke, Kotki Lohara village in Sialkot, and an area near Shakargarh, while the remaining two were in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, i.e. Muzaffarabad and Kotli.

He added that there had been a total of “24 impacts”.

Apart from listing the nine targets selected by the military, Wednesday morning’s press briefing by the armed forces and the Ministry of External Affairs also gave details about why they were picked.

While the roles of Bahawalpur and Muridke are well-known, claims about the other seven locations cannot be independently corroborated.

Sites in Pakistan that India targeted

1. Bahawalpur, Punjab

This large town in Punjab is situated around 100 kilometres within Pakistan and it is where the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) is headquartered.

Founded by Masood Azhar, one of the terrorists freed by India in late 2000 in exchange for the release of passengers held hostage by the hijackers of Indian Airlines flight IC 814, the JeM has been involved in a number of terrorist incidents in India over the past two decades.

At the press briefing, Colonel Qureshi said that the Markaz Subhanallah camp, which was the JeM’s headquarters and the “centre of indoctrination and training”, was targeted.

2. Muridke, Punjab

Located 30 kilometres from the international border, this town was for a long time the headquarters of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT), one of the deadliest terrorist groups active against targets in India.

This is from where India believes Hafiz Saeed planned the 26/11 terrorist attack on Mumbai in 2008. Of course, Saeed moved out of Muridke years ago and is believed to be in Lahore now. And given the high probability of the town being on India’s target list, it is unlikely that the LeT would have maintained significant manpower there.

India said that strikes targeted the Markaz Taiba camp in Murdike that trained the terrorists behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, including Ajmal Kasab and David Headley.

3. Sarjal camp, Shakargarh district, Punjab

India said that strikes had targeted the Sarjal camp in Sialkot, located about six kilometres from the international border. Terrorists that killed four Jammu and Kashmir police officers in March 2025 were trained at this camp.

4. Mehmoona Joya camp, Sialkot district, Punjab

This facility housed a Hizbul Mujahideen base from which the 2016 attack on the Pathankot air base was planned and directed, the Indian army claimed.

Sites in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir that India targeted

5. Gulpur, Kotli

The Gulpur camp in Kotli, situated around 30 kilometres from the Line of Control, served as a base for the LeT’s activity in the Rajouri and Poonch sectors of Jammu and Kashmir. It was the training site for the terrorists involved in the April 2023 Poonch ambush and the June 2024 attack on a bus carrying pilgrims.

6. Barnala camp in Bhimber 

According to Colonel Qureshi, this camp, roughly nine kilometres from the Line of Control, functioned as a training centre for weapons handling, improvised explosive devices and jungle warfare.

7. Sawai Nala camp, Muzaffarabad

Located about 30 kilometres from the Line of Control, this facility was identified by the Indian army as an LeT training centre. According to the army, the perpetrators of the October 20, 2024 Sonamarg strike, the October 24, 2024 Gulmarg assault and the April 22, 2025 Pahalgam attack were trained at this site.

8. Syedna Bilal camp, Muzaffarabad

The Indian army identified this as a JeM staging area, used for supplying arms and explosives, as well as providing jungle survival training.

9. Abbas camp, Kotli

The Indian military reported that this camp, situated roughly 13 kilometres from the Line of Control, was a facility used by LeT fidayeen for training, with a capacity to train 15 terrorists.