File image.
Indian air defenses repelled over the night of May 8 and 9 a Pakistani drone and missile attack along the Line of Control (LoC) and the internationally-recognized border, the country’s Ministry of Defence announced.
“Military stations at Jammu, Pathankot & Udhampur were targeted by Pakistani-origin drones and missiles along the international border in J&K today,” India’s Ministry of Defence said on the X social network, citing places in and near the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir. “The threats were swiftly neutralized …. No casualties or material losses were reported.”
Eight missiles, launched from Pakistan at the Jammu region towns of Satwari, Samba, Ranbir Singh Pura and Arnia, were intercepted by air defenses, an Indian military source told Reuters.
Other sources who spoke to the New Delhi-based Asian News International said that a total of 50 Pakistani drones were also shot down.
“Over 50 drones were successfully neutralized during a large-scale counter-drone operation conducted by Indian Army Air Defence units in the areas of Udhampur, Samba, Jammu, Akhnoor, Nagrota, and Pathankot areas. The engagement involved extensive use of L-70 guns, Zu-23mm, Schilka systems, and other advanced counter-UAS [Unmanned Aerial Systems] equipment, demonstrating the Army’s robust capability to counter aerial threats,” the news agency quoted the sources as saying.
Sirens sounded across Jammu overnight, with videos showing heavy air defense fire over the region. Blackouts were also reported.
In a statement, Islamabad denied attacking Indian territories and said that the accusations were “entirely unfounded, politically motivated, and part of a reckless propaganda campaign aimed at maligning Pakistan”.
Just a day earlier, the Pakistani military said that it had repelled an Indian attack, shooting down some 29 drones. Four Pakistani troops were wounded in the city Lahore, reportedly at an air base, and a civilian was killed in the city of Ghotki. The Indian military acknowledged attacking air defenses in Lahore.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed on May 8 that the country would respond to any escalation “with full resolve and determination to safeguard Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The country’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif also warned that further retaliation was “increasingly certain” after both countries accused each other of launching drone attacks.
Tensions between the nuclear powers have soared since the April 22 terrorist attack on the resort town of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir. New Delhi held militant groups based in Pakistan responsible for the terrorist attack. Islamabad rejected the accusation.
On May 7, Indian retaliatory strikes against Pakistan claimed the lives of 31 civilians, including women and children, according to Pakistani officials. Indian authorities also said that Pakistani shelling killed at least 15 Indian civilians on the same day.
The confrontation between India and Pakistan could go on for weeks, or even months. However, an all-out war remains highly unlikely.
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