Read More: India-Pakistan: Tensions surge as Pakistan targets Jammu; India activates air defences; What we know so far
“Military stations of Jammu, Pathankot and Udhampur in proximity to the international boundary in Jammu and Kashmir targeted by Pakistan using missiles and drones. No losses,” the Headquarters of the Integrated Defence Staff said on X.
“Threat neutralised by Indian armed forces as per SoP with kinetic & non-kinetic means,” said the post.
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People in the know said drones were sighted at multiple locations along the western front, confirmed to be hostile and effectively engaged with by air defence systems and neutralised. Pakistani forces resorted to shelling in several areas but no major casualties were reported.
Several areas of Jammu were under a power blackout. Shelling was reported from the border areas of Poonch in Jammu and Kupwara in Kashmir. The power supply was turned off in Srinagar as well, around 9:50 pm.
“It seems to be a missile and drone attack, which have been intercepted… We can hear continuous bangs even now,” said former Jammu & Kashmir police chief SP Vaid, who lives in Jammu. “There is a complete blackout now. The situation is evolving.”
Muhammad Hussain, a resident of the Bawey area of Jammu, said, “We heard some loud bangs around 8:15 pm and, within a few minutes, there was a complete blackout. Then we saw several objects flying in the sky.”
A Jammu college student said, “We have gathered in one room and we could hear loud bangs even at 9:30 pm. We see these objects with red lights going around in the skies.”
A senior official in Jammu said power blackouts were normal and taken as a precautionary measure. “People are advised to stay indoors and follow SOPs (standard operating procedures) issued by the NDMA (National Disaster Management Authority) and the government,” said another official.
Another said swarm drone attacks had been foiled at Jammu airport and some other locations as well.
Reports of drone attacks came from Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. “We heard two major blast sounds around 9 pm,” said a businessman there, adding that a flying object was neutralised by Indian forces in the sky itself. The same was reported by villagers near the international border.
“We are right now in absolute darkness and only hearing the sounds of explosions,” said a villager near Longewala in Rajasthan.
Blackouts were observed in Bhuj, Naliya, Nakhayrana and Khavda in Kutch district of Gujarat. Punjab’s Pathankot and Amritsar districts on Thursday evening also had blackouts. There were reports of a loud noise in Pathankot, which some feared could be shelling from Pakistan but there was no confirmation of this.
District authorities said there was no need to panic.
There will be an eight-hour blackout starting at 9 pm on Thursday in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district, said district authorities.
(With agency inputs)
