Air Marshal AK Bharti: The face of IAF’s Operation Sindoor briefing

Air Marshal AK Bharti

Air Marshal AK Bharti said on Sunday that the precision strikes carried out by the Indian armed forces had "desired effects on the enemy targets," without elaborating on the loss of lives to the Pakistan Army.

Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7 to strike multiple terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir after a deadly attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam last month in which 26 tourists were killed.

"Our aim was not to inflict casualties, but in case there have been, it is for them to count. Our job is to hit the target, not to count the body bags," Air Marshal Bharti said.

Addressing the media on Operation Sindoor, Air Marshal Bharti refrained from disclosing technical details of the weapons and calibres employed, citing operational confidentiality."I never mentioned any of the weapons and calibre that we used--we leave it at that. Those are matters of operational details that I would not like to get into," he said.

He said whatever methods and means were chosen "had the desired effects on the enemy targets." "How many casualties? How many injuries? Our aim was not to inflict casualties, but in case there have been, it is for them to count. Our job is to hit the target, not to count the body bags," the Air Marshal said , when asked about the loss of lives to the Pakistan Army.

The Indian strikes killed "high-value targets", namely, Yusuf Azhar, Abdul Malik Rauf and Mudasir Ahmed, who were involved in the hijacking of IC 814, popularly known as the Kandahar hijack, and the Pulwama attack, where 40 CRPF jawans were killed in 2019.

Air Marshal Awadhesh Kumar Bharti is the serving Director General of Air Operations (DGAO). Commissioned into the fighter stream in 1987, he is an alumnus of NDA, Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, and the National Defence College. Prior to his current role, he held several key appointments, including Air Officer Commanding Advance HQ EAC, Assistant Chief of Air Staff Operations (Offensive), and Senior Air Staff Officer of CAC.