According to a government statement issued via the Press Information Bureau (PIB), the Pakistani military attempted a nighttime strike late Wednesday targeting strategic military locations including Srinagar, Awantipura, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, and several others in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, and Gujarat. The coordinated attacks were thwarted by India’s Integrated Counter UAS Grid and Air Defence systems, which neutralized the incoming threats mid-air. The remains of missiles and drones are now being recovered from various locations across northern India.
Cities Targeted in the Attack Attempt:
Srinagar, Awantipura, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Kapurthala, Bhatinda, Adampur, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, Bhuj
Residents in multiple cities reported hearing loud explosions in the sky during the night, confirming successful mid-air interceptions. This comes just hours after India’s Operation Sindoor, a precision military campaign that destroyed nine terrorist camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The government reiterated its earlier statement made during the Operation Sindoor briefing that India’s missile strikes had been focused, measured, and non-escalatory, specifically avoiding Pakistani military establishments.
However, after Pakistan’s attempted attack on Indian military targets, India responded by destroying air defence radars and missile systems in Lahore and other locations across Pakistan. The Ministry of Defence confirmed that India's retaliation was “in the same domain and with the same intensity” as Pakistan’ s action. India had launched 24 precision-guided missile strikes targeting known terrorist camps affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in areas like Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Bahawalpur, Bhimber, Rawalakot, and Neelum Valley. These strikes were in response to the April 22 Pahalgam attack, where 26 civilians were killed by Lashkar-backed terrorists from The Resistance Front.
Despite India's focused targeting of terror hubs, Pakistan's army has escalated unprovoked firing across the Line of Control (LoC). Mortars and heavy-calibre artillery have been used to target Indian sectors in Kupwara, Baramulla, Uri, Poonch, Mendhar, and Rajouri. So far, 16 Indian civilians, including three women and five children, have been killed in Pakistani shelling. One Indian soldier has also lost his life. After Indian forces returned fire, Pakistani positions reportedly went silent.
The government confirmed that parts of the intercepted Pakistani missiles that landed in Amritsar are now being analyzed as part of growing evidence of cross-border aggression. The debris, according to defence officials, underscores Pakistan’s role not only in sponsoring terrorism but also in direct military provocation. India has pledged to maintain restraint but has made it clear that any attacks on Indian military infrastructure will be met with calibrated and proportionate military response. With tensions rising and military activity increasing across the LoC and western front, global attention is focused on South Asia as the situation evolves. As of now, India’s defence posture remains high, and further provocations from Pakistan are likely to draw stronger responses under Operation Sindoor's extended mandate.
