News reports regarding suicide attacks by terrorists at Pathankot in Punjab or Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir are completely false, Army officials said on Thursday.
This clarification comes amid the circulation of fake reports about suicide attacks by terrorists.
Escalating tensions with India, Pakistan targeted Jammu with loitering munitions, and Indian Air Defence guns responded with return fire.
Sources said the attack resembled a Hamas-style operation in Israel, where multiple low-cost rockets were used to target cities. The Pakistan Army is operating and behaving like the terror organization Hamas, they added. Last month, ISI and Hamas reportedly met in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan fired eight missiles directed at the Satwari, Samba, RS Pura, and Arnia sectors in Jammu—all of which were intercepted and blocked, defence sources said. Blackouts have been enforced in Kishtwar, Akhnoor, Samba, and Jammu.
Explosions were heard as Indian air defence intercepted Pakistani drones in Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistani drones were also intercepted by Indian air defence systems in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. Complete blackouts have also been enforced in Bikaner (Rajasthan), and Jalandhar and Amritsar (Punjab).
Early Wednesday, India responded to the Pahalgam terror attack through Operation Sindoor, targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) with precision strikes. India has reiterated that any attack on its military installations will invite a suitable response.
At a media briefing on Thursday, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that escalation by Pakistan will be and is being responded to appropriately.
“The original escalation was by Pakistan on the 22nd of April. We are the ones responding to that escalation with the action taken yesterday morning. And again, I would like to emphasize that the action was restrained; it was directed toward non-civilian, non-military targets, and confined to terrorist camps. As we’ve been saying since yesterday, any further action by Pakistan—some of which we are seeing today—is nothing but further escalation by Pakistan, and it will be responded to appropriately,” he said.
Misri also emphasized that India’s intention has not been to escalate matters.
Sources said the government informed an all-party meeting on Thursday that over 100 terrorists were killed in India’s precision strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan early Wednesday.
The Defence Ministry stated that on the night of May 7, Pakistan attempted to target several military installations in Northern and Western India—including Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bathinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj—using drones and missiles.
“These were neutralised by the Integrated Counter-UAS Grid and Air Defence systems. The debris from these attacks is now being recovered from several locations, confirming the Pakistani aggression,” the statement said. (ANI)
