Reduced to rubble: India strikes alleged headquarters of militant groups in Pakistan's heartland

By Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam and Mubasher Bukhari

MURIDKE, Pakistan (Reuters) - Video footage from the aboriginal hours of Wednesday shows a agleam flash from the residential Islamic seminary extracurricular Bahawalpur successful cardinal Pakistan arsenic India attacked its neighbour successful effect to the sidesplitting of Indian tourists successful Kashmir.

The seminary was emptied of its students successful caller days arsenic speculation grew that would beryllium targeted by India, but the household of Masood Azhar, laminitis of the Jaish-e-Mohammed Islamist militant group, was inactive there, according to the group.

Ten of Azhar's relatives were among 13 radical killed successful the strike, including women and children, the Pakistani subject said. Thousands of radical turned retired for their funerals astatine a sports stadium aboriginal successful the day, shouting "Allah Akbar", oregon God is Great, and different spiritual chants.

"(Indian Prime Minister Narendra) Modi's brutality has breached each norms," the radical said successful a statement. "The grief and daze are indescribable". It said that 5 of those killed were children and the others included Azhar's sister and her husband. It did not respond to a petition for remark connected wherefore the household was inactive astatine the site.

Azhar, who has not been seen for years, and his brother, Abdul Rauf Asghar, lawman caput of the group, did not look to person attended the ceremonial prayers. The roadworthy to the tract was cordoned disconnected aft the strike.

Further north, astir fractional an hr aft midnight, 4 Indian missiles deed a sprawling analyzable successful Muridke implicit six minutes, a section authorities authoritative said.

The onslaught demolished a mosque and adjacent medication gathering and buried 3 radical successful the rubble.

A motion extracurricular describes the tract arsenic a authorities wellness and acquisition complex, but India says it is associated with militant radical Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Delhi and Washington blasted LeT for the 2008 onslaught connected the Indian metropolis of Mumbai that killed much than 160 people. LeT, which has has denied work for that attack, is banned.

The onslaught near different buildings successful the analyzable untouched. A section authoritative said that usually determination were up to 3,500 unit and students astatine the site, but astir everyone had been evacuated successful caller days arsenic they feared it would go a target.

Hafiz Saeed, person of LeT and its successor organizations, is successful a Pakistani jailhouse since being convicted successful 2020, connected panic financing charges. He says his network, which spans 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing location and ambulance services, has nary ties to militant groups.

Delhi said it had conducted pinpoint strikes connected the 2 office of its militant adversaries, portion of what it said were 9 "terrorist camps" targeted.

"Over the past 3 decades Pakistan has systematically built panic infrastructure," it said successful a briefing connected the attacks.

Pakistan said India had deed six sites, sidesplitting 26 radical and wounding 46, each "innocent civilians".

Officials and experts said India's onslaught connected its neighbour, its astir important successful decades, fulfilled a long-cherished goal, but Islamabad warned that it would deed back.

The struggle betwixt India and Pakistan has been confined successful caller decades mostly to the disputed mountainous portion of Kashmir. But the aerial strikes successful the towns of Bahawalpur and Muridke were seen successful Islamabad arsenic a large escalation.

India said 7 of its targets were utilized by Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, some Islamist groups designated "terrorist" organisations by the U.N. Security Council. India launched the attacks successful effect to the sidesplitting of 26 people, mostly tourists successful Indian Kashmir past month.

Jaish says that it carries retired acquisition and foundation enactment successful Pakistan and its militant activities are lone successful India. Delhi says that it runs grooming camps successful Pakistan, arsenic good arsenic indoctrination schools, and that it launches militants into India.

For decades Hindu-majority India has accused Pakistan of supporting Islamist militants successful attacks connected Indian interests, particularly successful Kashmir. Pakistan denies specified enactment and successful crook accuses India of supporting separatist rebels successful Pakistan, which New Delhi denies.

(Writing by Saeed Shah; editing by Philippa Fletcher)