India exercised significant restraint during Operation Sindoor, deliberately avoiding strikes on military assets concealed within civilian areas across Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan, even as it targeted high-value terror infrastructure and terrorists. A detailed report published in Eurasia Review has now laid bare what it describes as a calculated, decades-long Pakistani military strategy of embedding lethal weapon systems within populated civilian zones — a practice that critics argue constitutes a systematic violation of international humanitarian law.

A Premeditated Strategy, Not Logistical Necessity

The Eurasia Review report is unambiguous in its characterisation of Pakistan's approach. "This is not an act of desperation or logistical necessity," it states. "Evidence gathered over decades of observation along the Line of Control (LoC), as well as during major military operations, strongly suggests that this is a calculated, premeditated strategy — one designed to exploit the moral restraint of the adversary while simultaneously manufacturing a propaganda narrative. The pattern is consistent and unmistakable."

According to the report, mortars, artillery guns, rocket systems, air defence units, and drone-launch infrastructure have repeatedly been identified as being positioned inside or adjacent to villages, towns, residential localities, schools, and civil airports. The underlying logic, the report argues, is cynical: place weapons among civilians, and the adversary either refrains from striking — allowing those assets to operate with impunity — or strikes and faces international condemnation for civilian casualties.

Operation Bunyan Um Marsoos and the Conversion of Civilian Sites

When Pakistan launched Operation Bunyan Um Marsoos in May 2025 in response to Operation Sindoor, the report notes that multiple civilian localities across Pakistan and PoK were converted into active military sites within just a few nights. The speed of that conversion, the report argues, points to prior planning rather than improvisation.

Among the most striking examples cited is the use of a site adjacent to a government girls' high school in the Kotli district of PoK as a drone-launch location. The report describes this not merely as a "tactical choice" but as a "moral failure of the highest order" — using the surroundings of an educational institution as a military staging ground.

India's Restraint and the Laws of Armed Conflict

Notably, Indian forces operating under Operation Sindoor were reportedly aware of military assets embedded within civilian areas but chose not to strike those locations, prioritising the avoidance of civilian casualties. This approach, according to the report, underscores New Delhi's adherence to the laws of armed conflict — a standard the report argues Pakistan's military has repeatedly failed to uphold.

This comes amid broader international scrutiny of conduct during the May 2025 conflict, with questions being raised about accountability under international humanitarian law frameworks.

The Legal and Humanitarian Implications

The report draws a sharp legal conclusion: under international humanitarian law, any site actively used for military purposes — whether a village home, a school, or an airport — becomes a lawful military target. By embedding weapons among civilian populations, the Pakistan Army is not protecting those civilians, the report argues, but placing them "directly in the crosshairs of any potential retaliatory action."

The report calls on residents of Pakistan and PoK to recognise the grave risk this strategy exposes them to. As scrutiny of Pakistan's military conduct intensifies, the findings are likely to add pressure on international bodies to examine compliance with the laws of armed conflict in the region.