Releases pictures and videos of multiple missile salvos at sea

Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service

Amid rising tensions and the anticipated military response to the Pahalgam terror attack, multiple Indian Navy warships have tested their readiness for ‘long-range precision offensive strike’.

The Navy said on Sunday, “The warships undertook successful multiple anti-ship firings to revalidate and demonstrate readiness of platforms, systems and crew for long-range precision offensive strike.”

The Navy said it stands combat-ready and future-ready to safeguard the nation’s maritime interests.

The Navy also released pictures and videos of multiple missile salvos at sea.

Meanwhile, the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant is already out at sea. The Navy’s warships carry two versions of the BrahMos missile that can hit targets at land. One version can hit targets some 300 km away. The Extended-Range version can fire almost 500 km away.

The range of the BrahMos was extended, with India joining the 34-nation Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in 2016.

Before India joined the MTCR, the Russian technology of the BrahMos was restricted as the MTCR limits the export of missile technology which can travel beyond 300 km.

Lt Gen S Pattabhiraman, former General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command and later Vice Chief of the Army Staff, passed away at the age of 78. A sapper officer, he was also the Colonel Commandant of the Bombay Sappers, and had..

Lt Gen S Pattabhiraman, former General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command and later Vice Chief of the Army Staff, passed away at the age of 78.

A sapper officer, he was also the Colonel Commandant of the Bombay Sappers, and had hung up his boots in December 2006 after a career spanning 40 years.

His appointments included Defence Attache to Ankara, Turkey and the first Director General of Information Systems of the Indian Army.

As the vice chief he had been instrumental in ensuring a high state of operational preparedness at all times, besides conceptualising the Army’s vision for the decade ahead.

In association with Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, he provided impetus to senior officers joining the corporate world as independent directors by steering a week long course on the subject.

He also steered the affairs of the Bombay Engineering Group and Centre, Pune, for a period of three years as the Colonel Commandant.

After retirement he also had a stint as an administrative member of the Armed Forces Tribunal.

Officers who worked with him remember him as a thorough professional and a humble warm-hearted person who was down to the earth, amiable and approachable in all matters.

The Centre is planning to undertake a study to look into ways to maximise the use of the quantum of water from the three rivers that Pakistan had earlier used under the Indus Water Treaty, now that the agreement has…

The Centre is planning to undertake a study to look into ways to maximise the use of the quantum of water from the three rivers that Pakistan had earlier used under the Indus Water Treaty, now that the agreement has been suspended, officials said.

The proposal was made at a high-level meeting on Friday chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah that discussed the future course of action on the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, which has been kept in abeyance following the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed.

Under the World Bank-brokered treaty, India was granted exclusive rights to the water of the eastern rivers — the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi — amounting to an average annual flow of about 33 million acre-feet (MAF). The water of the western rivers — the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab — with an average annual flow of around 135 MAF, were largely allocated to Pakistan.

With the treaty now put in abeyance, the government is looking at ways to utilise the water of the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab. After Friday’s high-level meeting, Jal Shakti Minister CR Paatil asserted that the government is working on a strategy to ensure that not a single drop of water flows into Pakistan.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has issued a slew of directives, and the meeting was held to follow up on them. Shah made several suggestions at the meeting for their effective implementation. “We will ensure that not a single drop of water flows into Pakistan from India,” the Jal Shakti Minister had said after the meeting.

Sources said the government is working on a long-term plan to ensure the effective implementation of its decisions.

According to an official, the ministry has been asked to conduct a study to look at ways to utilise the water from the three western rivers. Experts have spoken about the lack of infrastructure that may limit India’s capability of completely utilising the water it gets from the decision to suspend the treaty.

“The real issue is with the western rivers where infrastructure limitations prevent us from immediately stopping water flows,” Himanshu Thakkar of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) said.

“We have several projects underway in the Chenab basin that will take five to seven years to complete. Until then, water will continue to flow to Pakistan by gravity. Once these are operational, India will have control mechanisms that currently do not exist,” Thakkar said.

Shripad Dharmadhikary, an environmental activist and the founder of Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, has also cautioned against assuming that India could rapidly divert water flows. “At present, we lack the major infrastructure needed to stop water from flowing into Pakistan,” he said.

In response to India’s decision on the water-sharing agreement, Pakistan’s Senate, in a resolution, has said the move amounted to “an act of war”.

Four more houses of militants were “demolished” in as many districts on Saturday as security forces intensified their crackdown in south Kashmir to hunt down the Pahalgam suspects and their sympathisers. Over 2,000 persons, including 175 from Anantnag district, have…

Adil Akhzer

Four more houses of militants were “demolished” in as many districts on Saturday as security forces intensified their crackdown in south Kashmir to hunt down the Pahalgam suspects and their sympathisers. Over 2,000 persons, including 175 from Anantnag district, have been detained in the past few days.

The houses belonging to Ahsan-ul-Haq Sheikh of Muran in Pulwama district, Zakir Ahmad of Matalhama, Kulgam, and Shahid Ahmad Kuttay of Chotipora, Shopian and Farooq Teedwa of Kalaroos area in Kupwara, were demolished overnight on Saturday.

With the fresh demolitions, the total number of houses razed in the wake of the massacre has gone up to six. Sources told The Tribune Ahsan was linked to the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and had been active ever since he joined militancy in 2023.

Zakir, a worker, had been missing since September 2023 and had also joined the LeT outfit, the sources said. The third militant, Shahid Ahmad Kuttay, from Shopian district too had been missing since 2023 and is said to have joined the LeT/The Resistance Front (TRF). Farooq is learnt to have crossed the Line of Control in 1990s but never returned, said officials.

Local residents said they heard a huge blast in their area. Several nearby houses were damaged in the explosion at Ahsan-ul-Haq Sheikh’s residence. Neighbours said they had been punished for no fault of their own. “If our neighbour is at fault, why have we been punished?” said a neighbour.

On the night of April 24-25, the houses of LeT militants Adil Thoker and Asif Sheikh, both from south Kashmir, were “demolished using explosives”. The police said Adil of Guree village in Anantnag had conspired with two Pakistan nationals to carry out the Tuesday’s killings in Pahalgam that left 25 tourists and a local dead. His name had figured among the three suspects who, the police said, had carried out the killings.

His family had claimed that explosives were planted inside their joint family house before it was blown up. The police, however, said “suspicious objects” stored inside the house had led to the blast.

The police were yet to issue a statement on the demolitions, but sources said the action was aimed at sending out a strong message to those joining militancy.

The demolitions come amid massive search and cordon operations across Anantnag district to curb terrorism and its ecosystem. Numerous raids were being conducted at various locations throughout the district, the police said.

“Day and night search operations are underway with heightened vigilance. So far, around 175 suspected have been detained for questioning to dismantle the support networks aiding terrorist activities,” the police said.

Additional mobile vehicle checkpoints had been set up across the district to monitor suspicious movements

The suspension of trade with Pakistan post Pahalgam terror attack adds another chapter to Attari check-post’s muddled history

Neeraj Bagga

The name translates into Punjabi as the ‘elevated place’, and Attari’s status as an international landmark makes it the most well-known among the hundreds of Indian villages situated along the International Border with Pakistan. Located at a distance of 28 km from Amritsar and 22 km from Lahore, Attari is more than just the holding ground, along with the Pakistani village of Wagah, for the Joint Check-Post (JCP) between the two neighbouring countries. The only permissible land route for trade between India and Pakistan, Attari’s significance goes much beyond the economic sphere. A popular route for cross-border travel, Attari-Wagah represents a cultural and social vantage point of the fault lines of a troubled past — a witness to the crosswinds of history.

As during the escalation of tensions in the past, the immediate aftermath of the horrific Pahalgam terror attack is being felt at Attari — suspension of all trade activity by the Centre and Pakistani nationals queuing up to return before the Indian government’s deadline. Pakistan, too, subsequently announced suspension of all trade with India, including through third countries.

In the public imagination, the Attari-Wagah border is synonymous with the daily retreat ceremony. Acrimony and bonhomie co-mingle as Border Security Force and Pakistan Rangers’ personnel engage in a synchronised drill characterised by aggressive manoeuvres as they come in close contact.

Sweets are exchanged or discontinued at the site on Eid, Diwali and the national festivals of India and Pakistan depending upon the prevailing mood between the nations.

Despite India and Pakistan engaging in full blown wars in 1965 and 1971, the JCP did not witness any violent incident except in 2014, when a suicide bomber detonated an explosion in which 60 persons were killed and over 110 persons injured on the Pakistani side of the border crossing.

Fencing along the International Border ended in the early 1990s.

Trade outpost

BK Bajaj, an Amritsar-based dry fruit importer who joined the family’s pre-Partition business in 1963, recalls that the cross-border trade through Attari has been going on since Independence. He remembers how truckloads of merchandise would arrive at Attari and porters used to carry them across the border, where sacks would be loaded again in trucks. Similarly, goods trains used to transport the merchandise.

The Customs Department operated a Land Customs Station for years before it was upgraded into the Integrated Check Post (ICP), the country’s first, with an investment of about Rs 150 crore in 2012. Spread over 120 acres, the ICP has direct access to the National Highway. Its operation was handed over to the Land Port Authority of India (LPAI), while Customs handled the clearance part. After seizures of contraband in trucks coming from Pakistan, the LPAI installed a full-body truck scanner, costing around Rs 23 crore, in 2018.

Ups and downs

The ICP was used for exports only to Pakistan while it handled imports from both Pakistan and Afghanistan. Before the Indian government raised the customs duty on import of goods from Pakistan by 200 per cent following the Pulwama attack on CRPF personnel on February 14, 2019, about 200 trucks used to cross over from Pakistan daily. Six months later, in August, the Pakistan government, then led by Imran Khan, suspended trade ties with India in protest against the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

The export that stood at Rs 3,052.14 crore in 2012-13 fell down to Rs 737.65 crore in 2018-19.

Rajdeep Singh Uppal, past chairman of CII-Amritsar, who has been engaged in the import and export of fresh farm produce from the ICP for the past three decades, says cross-border trade had commenced through trucks in 2002-03. His company had sent the first batch of tomatoes to Lahore through the Land Custom Station, a precursor to the ICP. Now his company is involved in trade with Afghanistan.

On the closure of trade activity with Pakistan through Attari and the transit facility for imports from Afghanistan, Uppal says the Indian importers and exporters “stand firmly behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the move after the despicable Pahalgam terror attack on tourists”.

Afghan imports

Imports from Afghanistan at the ICP primarily consist of figs, raisins, apples, garlic, saffron, almonds, apricots, onions, pomegranates, walnuts, spices, including zeera, and herbs in a daily average of over 15 truckloads.

The ICP recorded the highest-ever imports from Afghanistan to the tune of over Rs 3,700 crore since its opening 12 years back in the 2023-24 financial year. In the 2022-23 fiscal, India had imported Afghan goods worth Rs 2,212 crore. The ICP commenced its operations with the import of Rs 1,748 crore worth of merchandise during the 2012-13 fiscal.

Road, train routes

The Attari land route and Attari International Railway Station are perfect examples of how Track II diplomacy worked effectively.

Buses were introduced to connect Delhi and Amritsar with Lahore and Nankana Sahib. The Delhi-Lahore bus service, known as ‘Sada-e-Sarhad’, was launched on February 19, 1999, after then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s visit to Pakistan through Attari. It generated the demand to ply a bus between the city of Golden Temple and Nankana Sahib, the two holiest sites of Sikhism.

Even as the Kargil war stalled the Lahore treaty and the Agra Summit from July 14 to 16, 2001, remained inconclusive, leaders from both India and Pakistan realised that people-to-people contact was necessary for resolving the long-standing dispute.

In 2006, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh flagged off the ‘Punj-aab’ bus between Amritsar and Nankana Sahib as a confidence-building measure. Pakistan reciprocated by launching the ‘Dosti’ bus between Amritsar and Lahore the same year.

In 2005, about 2,700 cricket fans entered the country through the Attari land route for the India-Pakistan Test match at Mohali. The next year, India cleared a quota of 1,000 visas for the Pakistan-New Zealand and Pakistan-South Africa matches in the country. However, some fans from Pakistan went missing, sending security forces and intelligence sleuths in a tizzy. A similar bonhomie was on display in 2011 when the high-profile World Cup semi-final between the two nations took place in Mohali.

However, as a fallout of India’s move to revoke Article 370 in J&K, Pakistan snapped all cross-border road and rail links. Since August 10, 2019, the services of ‘Punj-aab’ and ‘Dosti’ remain suspended. Similarly, the Samjhauta Express (Indian train) and the Thar Express (Pakistan train) went off-track due to the strained bilateral ties.

Sikh and Hindu jathas have always taken the land route through Attari to reach Pakistan to pay obeisance at their historic shrines. India also facilitates Pakistani nationals for ziyarat of Ajmer Sharif.

Besides passenger traffic, the Attari railway station also facilitated cargo exchange before the trade embargo was imposed in 2019. Several Bollywood and Punjabi movies have been shot at the station to give a feel of the India-Pakistan border.

Local voices

Gursher Singh, a porter, recalls that over 5,000 residents from villages around the ICP were rendered jobless after trade between India and Pakistan was halted in 2019. They were compelled to move to faraway locations to eke out a living. Now, some who were earning their living by getting whatever little work was being offered through trade with Afghanistan would also be rendered jobless.

Hawkers Maninder Singh and Prince Singh, who sell Tricolour flags and merchandise among visitors thronging to see the retreat ceremony, say the number of spectators had swelled from a few thousand over two decades ago to over 20,000 daily. About 100 residents of Attari village earn their living by selling these articles.

There’s an inherent sense of stoicism that is linked with Attari and the other border villages in Punjab. The villagers have seen it all — the latest escalation in India-Pakistan tensions is another chapter in the topsy-turvy history. Most say that New Delhi’s swift and stern action after Pahalgam was on expected lines, and that they have no reason to disagree. Attari’s tryst with destiny continues.

Attari-Wagah Joint Check-Post

• During and after Partition, the Attari-Wagah check-post had served as a route to regulate the flow of refugees.
• The retreat ceremony — hugely popular for several years now — was jointly initiated by Brigadier (later Major General) Mohinder Singh Chopra of the Indian Army and Brigadier Nazir Ahmed of the Pakistan army on October 11, 1947.
• It became a daily fixture in 1959. Since then, the border security forces — the Border Security Force and Pakistan Rangers — have engaged in the daily military drill at the Attari-Wagah border.
• Though highly ceremonial and intense in presentation, the event has a lot of symbolism attached to it, reflecting the longstanding rivalry and a shared cultural heritage.

Step taken keeping in view the emerging security situation

Vijay Mohan

FILE PHOTO – Bhakra Nangal dam – built across the Sutlej river and located between Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.Tribune photo : Manoj Mahajan

Security agencies have stepped up vigil at key dams and headworks in the region keeping in view the emerging security situation after India put the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance as a retaliatory step against Pakistan following the terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people on April 22.

According to sources, a general alert has been issued to guard against any untoward incident that may be triggered by inimical elements.

“The dams themselves may be resilient to terror attacks but the possibility of peripheral structures, transmission lines, minor installations or even employees being targeted cannot be ruled out,” a senior officer said.

“More than any physical damage, it is the psychological impact or even a small incident that matters,” he added.

Sources have also pointed out to several recent incidents of grenades being hurled at police stations and other places in Punjab, as well as the constant recovery of weapons near the International Border in Punjab that are beliived to be dropped by drones from Pakistan, necessitating the need for enhanced security measures as India and Pakistan lock horns over the terror incident.

The enhanced vigil at dams comes when the security forces, especially the Border Security Force that is responsible for the peacetime management of the India-Pakistan border are on heightened alert, and the Air Force and several Army formations are engaged in their routine field exercises.

There are three major dams in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

Bhakra and Pong lie on the Sutlej and Beas, respectively, in Himachal Pradesh, and Thein lies on the Ravi in Punjab. In addition, there are several, power houses, barrages and headworks down stream of the dams as well as on the numerous canals and water that form an irrigation network in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

Some of the barrages like the ones at Ferozepur and Madhopur are situated close to the International Border. The dams, barrages and canals control and regulate the flow of water from the aforementioned three rivers and ultimately, only a miniscule volume of water from these rivers is allowed to flow into Pakistan.

Under the IWT, signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, India had exclusive rights over the use of waters from these three rivers. Under the terms of the treaty, most of the water from the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab rivers that flow through Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir, goes to Pakistan.

The Bhakra, Pong and Thein dams are high value strategic assets. These have a combined hydro-power generation capacity of 2,375 megawatts and irrigation potential of 10,24,000 hectares. In addition, the Kol Dam, upstream of the Bhakra, has a hydro-power capacity of 800 MW and there are several other run-of the-water hydel projects on rivers in Himachal as well as in Jammu and Kashmir.

Hydel power projects in Jammu and Kashmir were already under heavy security cover because of the terrorist threat.

The intelligence agencies keep a close watch on the threat perception regarding these installations and in the past there have been several occasions when alerts warning against possible terror strikes have been issued.

The respective police forces of the states in which these projects are located is responsible for guarding these establishments and monitoring approach routes. Beginning with the Beas-Sutlej link, a canal connecting these rivers in Himachal, the Central Industrial Security Force will be replacing the state police forces.

Over the past few years, the security measures at these dams have also been beefed up, with additional manpower being deployed and protective gadgets and access control equipment being installed, sources said.

Several Indian men, whose Pakistani wives had gone to visit their families across the border, are now left stranded and anxious as the authorities in the neighbouring nation are not allowing their spouses to enter India through the Attari-Wagah Integrated…

Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service

Several Indian men, whose Pakistani wives had gone to visit their families across the border, are now left stranded and anxious as the authorities in the neighbouring nation are not allowing their spouses to enter India through the Attari-Wagah Integrated Check-Post despite possessing valid documents.

The move follows heightened tensions between the two countries in the aftermath of the killing of 25 tourists and a local by terrorists in Pahalgam four days ago. The men complained that their spouses had long-term visas and were issued “no-objection return to India” (NORI) certificates by the Ministry of External Affairs for their brief visit to Pakistan. NORI certificates allow holders to return to India without any obligation after a brief foreign visit.

Dr Vikram Udasi, who has come all the way from Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district to receive his wife Priya, a Pakistani national, has been running from pillar to post at the Attari border ever since the Indian authorities announced the suspension of visa services for Pakistan. The couple’s four-year-old son, who has an Indian passport, is accompanying his mother.

“The Indian authorities in New Delhi had allowed her permission to visit Pakistan till June 17. However, after learning about the 48-hour deadline India set on April 23, she flew from Karachi to Lahore on April 24 by paying Pakistani Rs 80,000 for a ticket that normally costs Rs 25,000,” said Dr Udasi.

He too landed in Amritsar the same day after spending Rs 16,000 for his air ticket. “Upon reaching Lahore, the Pakistani authorities didn’t allow my wife to cross over from Wagah to Attari despite having valid documents. Now, she is paying Rs 4,500 daily rent for a hotel room in Lahore and I am shelling out Rs 2,500 per day in Amritsar. She reaches daily from Lahore to Wagah by paying Rs 4,000 for taxi while I pay Rs 1,000 for the Amritsar-Attari journey,” he said, upset over the uncertainty that had hit his life.

Dr Udasi said Priya had been issued a long-term visa for eight years, which will conclude in 2026. He said while announcing the suspension of the visa services on April 23, the Indian authorities had stated that “NORI visa holders with long-term visas” could return to India.

Another Indian from Maharashtra’s Kolhapur, Rishi Kumar, said he had been camping at Attari for the past three days to receive his wife Savita Kumari, a Pakistan national, and their two 10-year-old twins Saysha and Revansh. They arrived from Balochistan to Lahore on April 24 to return to India before the end of 48-hour deadline, but were held back at Wagah border. “Savita is a long-term visa holder and will be eligible for Indian nationality once she completes the mandatory period,” he said.

Rishi said he spoke to his wife over the phone and she conveyed that there were about 50 Pakistani women married to Indians who were waiting in Lahore to cross over to India through the Attari land route.

The explosion happens just as Iran and the US meet on Saturday in Oman for the third round of negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme

A massive explosion and fire rocked a port on Saturday in southern Iran purportedly linked to a shipment of a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellant, killing 14 people and injuring around 750 others.

Helicopters dumped water from the air on the raging fire hours after the initial explosion, which happened at the Shahid Rajaei port just as Iran and the US met on Saturday in Oman for the third round of negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme.

No one in Iran outright suggested that the explosion came from an attack. However, even Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who led the talks, on Wednesday acknowledged that “our security services are on high alert given past instances of attempted sabotage and assassination operations designed to provoke a legitimate response”.

Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni gave the casualty figure to state media. But there were few details on what sparked the blaze just outside of Bandar Abbas, which burned into Saturday night, causing other containers to reportedly explode.

Security firm says port received chemical for missile fuel   The port took in a shipment of the missile fuel chemical in March, the private security firm Ambrey said. The fuel is part of a shipment of ammonium perchlorate from China by two vessels to Iran first reported in January by the Financial Times. The chemical used to make solid propellant for rockets was going to be used to replenish Iran’s missile stocks, which had been depleted by its direct attacks on Israel during the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“The fire was reportedly the result of improper handling of a shipment of solid fuel intended for use in Iranian ballistic missiles,” Ambrey said.

Ship-tracking data analysed by AP put one of the vessels believed to be carrying the chemical in the vicinity in March, as Ambrey said. Iran hasn’t acknowledged taking the shipment. The Iranian mission to the United Nations didn’t respond to a request for comment on Saturday.

It’s unclear why Iran wouldn’t have moved the chemicals from the port, particularly after the Beirut port blast in 2020. That explosion, caused by the ignition of hundreds of tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate, killed more than 200 people and injured more than 6,000 others. However, Israel did target Iranian missile sites where Tehran uses industrial mixers to create solid fuel.

Social media footage of the explosion on Saturday at Shahid Rajaei saw reddish-hued smoke rising from the fire just before the detonation. That suggests a chemical compound being involved in the blast—like in the Beirut explosion.

“Get back get back! Tell the gas (truck) to go!” a man in one video shouted just before the blast. “Tell him to go, it’s going to blow up! Oh God, this is blowing up! Everybody evacuate! Get back! Get back!”   On Saturday night, the state-run IRNA news agency said that the Customs Administration of Iran blamed a “stockpile of hazardous goods and chemical materials stored in the port area” for the blast, without elaborating.

An aerial shot released by Iranian media after the blast showed fires burning at multiple locations in the port, with authorities later warning about air pollution from chemicals such as ammonia, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide in the air. Schools and offices in Bandar Abbas will be closed Sunday as well.

Port a major destination for Iranian cargo Shahid Rajaei has been a target before. A 2020 cyberattack attributed to Israel targeted the port. It came after Israel said that it thwarted a cyberattack targeting its water infrastructure, which it attributed to Iran. Israeli officials didn’t respond to requests for comment regarding Saturday’s explosion.

Social media videos showed black billowing smoke after the blast. Others showed glass blown out of buildings kilometre away from the epicentre of the explosion. State media footage showed the injured crowding into at least one hospital, with ambulances arriving as medics rushed one person by on a stretcher.

Hasanzadeh, the provincial disaster management official, earlier told state television that the blast came from containers at Shahid Rajaei port in the city, without elaborating. State television also reported that there had been a building collapse caused by the explosion, though no further details were offered.

The Interior Ministry said that it launched an investigation into the blast. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also offered his condolences for those affected in the blast.

Shahid Rajaei port in Hormozgan province is about 1,050 kilometres southeast of Iran’s capital, Tehran, on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20 per cent of all oil traded passes.

Lashkar-e-Toiba ultra Jameel Ahmad Shergojri’s house demolished in Bandipora district

Debris of the house of Lashkar-e-Toiba ultra Jameel Ahmad Shergojri, that was demolished amid a crackdown on the terror ecosystem in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, in Bandipora district in Jammu 

Authorities have demolished the houses of three active terrorists in Bandipora, Pulwama and Shopian districts of Jammu and Kashmir, as security forces continued their crackdown on the terror ecosystem in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, officials said on Sunday.

The house of Adnan Shafi, who had joined terrorist ranks last year, was demolished at Wandina village in Shopian district on Saturday night, they said.

The house of another active terrorist—Amir Nazir—was demolished in Pulwama district.

In Bandipora district, the house of Lashkar-e-Toiba ultra Jameel Ahmad Shergojri was demolished. Shergojri has been an active terrorist since 2016.

With this, the total number of houses of terrorists and their overground workers demolised since the Pahalgam attack has gone up to nine.

The Pahalgam terror attack has increased tensions between India and Pakistan.

This marks the third consecutive day of ceasefire violations

Adil Akhzer

The Pakistan army resorted to “small arms” firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in North Kashmir, officials said on Sunday morning.

This marks the third consecutive day of ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the LoC in Kashmir, prompting a strong response from the Indian troops.

According to Army officials, on the night of April 26-27, “unprovoked small-arms firing was carried out by various Pakistan army posts across the Line of Control in the areas opposite Tutmari Gali and Rampur sectors.”

“Indian troops responded appropriately with small-arms fire,” the Army said.

The latest violation comes amid heightened tensions with Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack earlier this week.

Army chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi arrived in Kashmir on Friday to review the security preparation.

The growing escalation has sparked panic among residents of border towns. They have cleaned the community bunkers as a precautionary measure.

“We are hoping that the situation doesn’t escalate further,” said a border resident.

Since the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan in 2021, border towns had witnessed a period of peace with no incidents of cross-border firing — a calm now threatened.