Image Credit: Hindustan Times
Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Amar Preet Singh on Saturday said that after India’s precision strikes under Operation Sindoor on terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, many people close to him said “aur maarna tha,” meaning “you should have hit them more.”
“We were actually on a song that night. I hear from so many people. I don’t want to say that, but people very close to me all said ‘aur maarna tha’,” said Amar Preet Singh.
He made the remarks while delivering the 16th Air Chief Marshal LM Katre Memorial Lecture in Bengaluru on August 9.
The air chief marshal also announced that the Indian Air Force (IAF) brought down five Pakistani fighter aircraft and a large plane, referring to it as India's biggest ever recorded surface-to-air kill.
“We have an indication of at least one AWC in that AWC hangar, and a few F-16s, which are under maintenance there. We have at least five fighters confirmed killed and one large aircraft which could be either an aircraft or an AWC, which was taken at a distance of about 300 kilometres. This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about,” he said.
The operation also caused a large number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), drones, and some of their missiles to land in Indian territory.
Relying on precision intelligence, Singh explained that the IAF had chosen to attack the airfield. "The airfield was targeted, including the main building where planning is done, which was at times used as the civil terminal too. For the Sukkur airbase, we attacked the UAV hangar and the radar location," he continued.
The air chief marshal appreciated National Security Advisor Ajit Doval for uniting various agencies and forces under his coordination during Operation Sindoor.
He said the military leaders carefully planned for all possible situations and how India should respond. Talking about the key lesson from the operation, Singh said, “The biggest takeaway of the operation has been the primacy of air warfare has come to the forefront once again. People have realised that air warfare is the first responder that any country has and air warfare is one which can actually react in a quick time, attack deep inside with precision and just achieve your objective without any collateral.”
