Other targets reportedly include Muridke, near Lahore, Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Gulpur, Bhimber, Bagh, Chak Amru, and Sialkot.
Among the nine places in Pakistan that were hit during the intervening night of May 6-7 in retaliation to the terrorist attack of April 22 that killed 26 persons at Pahalgam, Bahawalpur stands out for more than one reason.
As part of Operation Sindoor, other targets reportedly include Muridke, near Lahore, Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Gulpur, Bhimber, Bagh, Chak Amru, and Sialkot. A formal briefing is scheduled later this morning where exact details, including targets and the mode of strikes, are expected to be revealed.
“A little while ago, the Indian Armed Forces launched ‘Operation Sindoor’, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed,” a late-night statement issued by the Ministry of Defence read.
“Altogether, nine sites have been targeted. Our actions have been focused, measured, and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in the selection of targets and method of execution. These steps come in the wake of the barbaric Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen were murdered. We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable,” the statement added.
Located in central Pakistan, it is outside Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). The surgical strikes of 2016 across the Line of Control in response to a terrorist attack on an Army camp in Uri that killed 18 soldiers and the airstrikes of terrorist camps at Balakot in response to a suicide attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel at Pulwama in 2019, were directed at targets within POK.
Bahawalpur is the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistan-based terrorist group active in Kashmir and believed to be responsible for the Pahalgam massacre. It is also said to have been involved in numerous other terror-related incidents, including the attack on Parliament in 2001, the attack on Pathankot airbase in 2016, and the Pulwama incident.
JeM was created in 2000 by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) with the intention to carry out terrorist activities against India as part of its state policy. Maulana Masood Azhar, imprisoned in India on terror-related charges and released along with two others in exchange for passengers of an Indian Airlines aircraft hijacked to Afghanistan in 1999, was made its head.
Originally operating from training camps in Afghanistan with the other terrorist groups, it relocated to Balakot after the fall of the Taliban and then moved to Peshawar and Muzaffarabad in POK.
By 2009, it formed a new headquarters in Bahawalpur in Pakistan’s Punjab province, called Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah complex and also referred to as the Usman-o-Ali campus. According to reports, it is spread over 18 acres and includes a mosque, a madrassa, and a walled complex that serves as a recruitment and training facility for its cadres.
Bahawalpur was also said to be a center for rest and recuperation for those fighting in Afghanistan during the US military presence in that country as it was away from areas targeted by America with drones and missiles. It is also close to the bases of several other terrorist groups with which JeM is believed to have a close association. The Lashkar-e-Toiba, another major terrorist group operating in Kashmir also has a strong presence in Bahawalpur, though its headquarters are reported to be in Muridke.
The complex belonging to JeM is believed to have been hit by India. Videos of the strike emerging on social media show a large blast and a resultant fireball in an urban area during night.
From the strategic point of view, Bahawalpur, which is about 130 kms from the Indo-Pak border, is also an important military center because it houses the headquarters of Pakistan’s 31 Corps along with several other major formations.
The Corps is responsible for defensive operations in Pakistan’s southern Punjab and northern Sind areas, opposite the Jaisalmer — Fazilka axis. On its reported Order of Battle (ORBAT) are the Bahawalpur-based 26 Mechanized Division, which gives it offensive capability, 35 Infantry Division, also at Bahawalpur, 14 Infantry Division at Okara to the north and independent infantry, armored, artillery, and engineer brigades.
Analysis of commercial satellite photos by defense experts have also suggested that Bahawalpur is among several bases that may house secret facilities for Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.
They identified features that suggest that at least five bases might serve a role in Pakistan’s emerging nuclear posture. This includes army garrisons at Akro (Petaro), Gujranwala, Khuzdar, Pano Aqil, and Sargodha. A sixth base at Bahawalpur (29.2829, 71.7955) may be under construction
The 12th largest city in Pakistan that was founded in 1748, it is also associated with the Second Sikh War of 1848, and the two World Wars for providing forces and resources to the British. It also has a rich cultural heritage and presently has an economy largely based on agriculture and handicrafts.
