New Delhi [India], May 7 (ANI): As part of the nationwide civil defence mock drill ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), emergency preparedness exercises were conducted at key locations in the national capital on Wednesday evening, including Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters, ISBT area, and North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) Office.

West Delhi District Magistrate Dr. Kinny Singh told ANI that during the drill, guidelines were explained to residents, who were also informed about shelters in cases of emergency.

'As per the government instructions, we carried out a mock drill at DLF Capital Greens... Guidelines were explained to residents, and they were also informed about shelters in cases of emergency,' she said.

A mock drill was also conducted in Patel Nagar. Patel Nagar SDM Dr Nitin Shakya told ANI that a building collapse scenario was created, and all concerned departments were involved in the drill to test emergency preparedness.

'We created a scenario of a building collapse. We mobilised the casualties for the hospital. Others have been mobilised for shelter homes... All concerned departments were involved in the drill,' he said.

Additionally, a 15-minute blackout was observed in the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area from 8:00 pm to 8:15 pm, as part of a nationwide mock drill to assess emergency preparedness.

These drills are being carried out across major cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Gwalior, and Jaipur, to evaluate local response capabilities to security challenges.

This came after the Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of Wednesday, targeting terrorist infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (Pok). This operation was a retaliatory response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which resulted in the deaths of 26 civilians, including one Nepali national.

Hours after India conducted a series of strikes on terrorist sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh held a media briefing in the national capital to share the details of the operation.

Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, who briefed the media alongside Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, stated that 'Operation Sindoor' was launched to deliver justice to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and their families.

Singh reported that a total of nine terror sites were targeted and successfully destroyed. She emphasised that the locations were chosen to ensure there was no damage to civilians or their infrastructure.

'Operation Sindoor was launched by the Indian Armed Forces to deliver justice to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and their families. Nine terrorist camps were targeted and successfully destroyed... The locations were so selected to avoid damage to civilian infrastructures and loss of any civilian lives', Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said.

Col Sofiya Qureshi presented the videos of the destruction of terror camps, including from the Muridke and where David Headley and Ajmal Kasab, perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, received training. Other than Muridke, Sarjal camp in Sialkot, Markaz Ahle Hadith, Barnala and Markaz Abbas, Kotli and Mehmoona Joya camp, Sialkot, were targeted in the strikes conducted by the Indian Army, Col Qureshi informed.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that the attack on Pahalgam was driven by an objective of undermining the return of normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir.

'The attack in Pahalgam was marked with extreme barbarity, with the victims mostly killed with head shots at close range and in front of their family...the family members were deliberately traumatised through the manner of killing, accompanied by the exhortation that they should take back the message. The attack was clearly driven by the objective of undermining normalcy returning to Kashmir,' he said.

India has carried out its deepest strikes inside Pakistan's undisputed territory since 1971, successfully targeting terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. This marks New Delhi's most significant military action within Pakistani territory in over five decades. (ANI)