Reaffirms government’s commitment to operational preparedness, citizen safety

Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service

Mediapersons film the inside of the JeM building after it was hit by Indian missiles in Bahawalpur. REUTERS

In the wake of the evolving situation after Operation Sindoor that targeted terror training camps in Pakistan and PoK, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting on national preparedness.

After an early morning briefing on the situation by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, the PM chaired a closed-door meeting with secretaries of various ministries and departments of the government to review national preparedness and inter-ministerial coordination in the light of recent developments concerning national security.

The PM described the current period as “sensitive” and called for continued alertness, institutional synergy and clear communication. He said this was essential as the nation navigates a sensitive period.

The PM reaffirmed the government’s commitment to national security, operational preparedness and citizen safety with the meeting discussing a range of issues, primarily emergency preparedness and security of critical infrastructure.

“Issues discussed included strengthening of civil defence mechanisms, efforts to counter misinformation and fake news and ensuring the security of critical infrastructure,” a PMO statement said.

Modi’s meeting on emergency preparedness was being held parallel to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chairing the all-party assembly at Parliament House Complex, where the Congress and the TMC wanted PM’s presence.

Speaking to secretaries, PM Modi stressed the need for seamless coordination among ministries and agencies to uphold operational continuity and institutional resilience.He reviewed the planning and preparation by ministries to deal with the current situation.

The PMO said secretaries have been directed to undertake a comprehensive review of their respective ministry’s operations and ensure foolproof functioning of essential systems, with special focus on readiness, emergency response and internal communication protocols.

“Secretaries detailed their planning with a whole-of-government approach in the current situation. All ministries have identified their actionables in relation to the conflict and are strengthening processes. Ministries are ready to deal with all kinds of emerging situations,” said the government statement.

The ministries were also advised to maintain close coordination with state authorities and ground-level institutions. The meeting was attended by Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan, senior officials from the Prime Minister’s Office and secretaries from key ministries, including Defence (RK Singh), Home Affairs (Govind Mohan), External Affairs (Vikram Misri), Health (Punya Salila Srivastav), Information and Broadcasting, Power and Telecommunications.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh says no limit could deter the country from the path of safeguarding its sovereignty.

Tribune News Service

Hours before Pakistan climbed up the escalatory ladder in the ongoing conflict with India by striking multiple locations across north India, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said no limit could deter the country from the path of safeguarding its sovereignty.

“No limit can deter us from protecting India’s sovereignty. We are fully prepared for responsive retaliations like Operation Sindoor,” said Singh, describing Indian military precision strikes on nine targets in Pakistan and PoK last night as “unimaginable and praiseworthy”.

Singh said India was fully prepared for any escalation. The remarks followed Defence Ministry’s official statement confirming thwarting of Pakistan attempts to engage military targets at 15 Indian locations and the neutralisation of air defence system in Lahore.

Singh today again said in Operation Sindoor, nine terror camps were destroyed in Pakistan and PoK and a considerable number of terrorists were killed. The Defence Minister said India was conscious of its role as a responsible nation exercising great restraint and believes in resolving issues through dialogue. “But if attempts are made to take advantage of this restraint, they will face strong and efficient action,” he said.

Singh was addressing the National Quality Conclave organised by the Department of Defence Production and Quality Assurance Organisation.

The minister said Operation Sindoor was successfully executed because of India’s formidable and professionally-trained armed forces equipped with high-quality equipment.

He said the precision with which Indian military executed the operation without harming any “innocent civilians and with minimum collateral damage” was unimaginable and a matter of great pride for the nation.

Rauf Asghar Alvi behind IC-814 hijacking

From the Parliament attack to the beheading of American-Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl, India has reportedly avenged all with its latest military action, Operation Sindoor, in Pakistan.

The operation has resulted in a major success, as Masood Azhar’s brother and Jaish-e-Mohammad’s operational head, Rauf Asghar Alvi, alias Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar, was among the terrorists eliminated during the military strike on JeM’s terror camp in Bahawalpur, top intelligence sources confirmed to The Tribune.

Rauf, one of India’s most wanted terrorists, was the mastermind behind the IC-814 hijacking in December 1999, which directly facilitated the release of JeM founder and chief Masood Azhar and Omar Saeed Sheikh, a key Al-Qaeda operative who later kidnapped and murdered Pearl.

He remained involved in a series of terror activities that claimed numerous lives in India. The investigation into the recent Pahalgam attack in which 26 civilians were shot has led authorities to believe that the arms and ammunition used by the terrorists at the Baisaran valley were most likely procured by Rauf.

According to security agencies, Rauf was also the key coordinator of the 2001 Parliament attack, which killed nine people and brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

Investigators have found Rauf’s direct links to the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack and, later that year, the Uri attack in which 19 Indian Army soldiers were killed. He was also believed to have overseen the planning of the Pulwama attack in 2019, which killed 40 CRPF personnel.

The Indian strikes under Operation Sindoor reportedly killed 10 members of Masood Azhar’s family in Bahawalpur, including his sister and brother-in-law. Although JeM released a statement following the strike, it did not mention Rauf Azhar by name.

Bahawalpur, Pakistan’s 12th largest city, is considered by security agencies to be the hub of JeM, the terror group responsible for several attacks in India. Located nearly 400 km from Lahore, the city houses JeM’s operational headquarters at the Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah, also known as the Usman-o-Ali campus.

Markaz Subhan Allah has been operational since 2015 and is reportedly used for training and radicalisation. The facility includes a central mosque, a madrasa for over 600 students, a swimming pool and a gymnasium.

Meanwhile, Pearl’s former colleague Asra Nomani shared a detailed post on social media, describing how Pakistan has for several decades provided safe haven to JeM and allowed it to use the southern province of Punjab as a base for its homegrown terrorists.

Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked shelling along the Line of Control in Kupwara and Baramulla districts late on Thursday evening with the Indian armed forces retaliating effectively, officials said. The Boniyar sector of Baramulla and the Tangdhar sector of Kupwara…

Adil Akhzer Our Correspondent

Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked shelling along the Line of Control in Kupwara and Baramulla districts late on Thursday evening with the Indian armed forces retaliating effectively, officials said.

The Boniyar sector of Baramulla and the Tangdhar sector of Kupwara district were targeted by Pakistan but there were no reports of any casualty so far.

On the intervening night of May 7 and 8, the Pakistan Army fired small arms and artillery guns across the LoC in areas opposite Kupwara, Baramulla, Uri and Akhnoor sectors in J-K. The Indian Army responded proportionately.

Residents of several border towns reported spending the Wednesday night in underground bunkers due to the shelling. “We had to take refuge inside the bunkers. The situation is very tense in our area,” said a resident of Teetwal village in north Kashmir. He noted that the shelling continued into Thursday morning.

More than a dozen civilians have been injured, and over 50 houses and government buildings have been damaged in the Pakistani shelling in north Kashmir’s border districts. The artillery attacks came a day after India launched precision strikes under Operation Sindoor in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), targeting terror launchpads.

Sources said thousands of residents have fled to safer locations following the sharp escalation along the border. Imran Ahmad, a resident of Kamal Kote village in Uri who fled with his family, said, “The situation is very worrying in the border areas. People are scared.”

An official confirmed that authorities have relocated residents from vulnerable areas to safer zones. “We are monitoring the situation,” he said.

Meanwhile, educational institutions in Baramulla and Kupwara districts, as well as those near Srinagar and Awantipora airfields, will remain closed on Friday and Saturday as a precaution.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah chaired a virtual meeting for the second consecutive day on Thursday with Deputy Commissioners of all border districts to assess the situation. He directed officials to ensure the availability of essential services, including food, sanitation, water, and power supply at relief camps

That raising the ante will definitely trigger an escalated response is no longer a doubt; it has been made very clear in India’s signal to Pakistan and the world.

Air Marshal Diptendu Choudhury Retd

India’s armed forces have upped the ante against Pakistan a day after Operation Sindoor was launched. An air defence system in Lahore has been neutralised. India has targeted air defence radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan.

It is clear that there will be no let-up in India’s measured but strong military response to the Pahalgam massacre.

The Pakistani media are conceding that Indian drones fell on Lahore, Attock, Gujranwala, Chakwal, Rawalpindi and Bahawalpur in Punjab province, as well as on Sukkur’s Miano, Umerkot’s Chhor and near Karachi in Sindh.

Peace in India has never been easy, having to live with Pakistan, a neighbour born out of bitterness and an unfulfilled Kashmir aspiration. It is these very aspects which continue to be fostered and leveraged by Pakistan’s duplicitous, self-serving military leadership to remain in power.

Having lost all its wars and failed to wrest Kashmir, the use of terror as a strategic instrument of statecraft has been a deliberate choice employed against India for years. Pakistan’s cultivated terror groups have taken many innocent Indian civilian lives in the past attacks, but a line was crossed in the targeted Pahalgam killings that uncannily echoed the vitriolic words of its Islamist military chief.

India’s enormous patience has been bitterly tested periodically, forcing punitive responses in Uri and Balakot, to drive home the lesson that terror will come at a cost.

The strong, well-deliberated, multi-pronged military response, which has been initiated in concert with all elements of comprehensive national power, underscores India’s rise towards great power and the acceptance that it will often come at a cost. Its integrated and escalated controlled kinetic action has for the first time struck deep into the heartland of Pakistan, the home of its power brokers.

The deliberate, selective and simultaneous targeting of nine terror hubs at depths ranging up to 100 km, once again displayed the enormous maturity and restraint in India’s response strategy — we believe that civilian lives matter.

This controlled punitive escalation sends three clear signals — that India will continue to punish acts of terror; that punishment will encompass all instruments of India’s growing comprehensive national power and the scale of the punishment will keep increasing in a calibrated manner.

Whether the punishment will spill over into Pakistan’s military and the nation as a whole, lies entirely in the hands of its elitist dysfunctional military and political leadership, as India has no intention of making Pakistan’s deprived citizens pay the price. But this time around, the messaging is loud and clear: no more terror, period. The large coordinated strike is just the beginning of what is evidently a strategy reset with a long-term approach in India’s response matrix.

India’s scale of the calm and collected military response has certainly created panic and disarray in Pakistan, triggering a predictable litany of rhetoric and false narratives in a desperate effort to save face.

Predictable also will be the follow-on deliberate show of outrage, riding on threats of being forced into raising the nuclear ante, orchestrated to garner international pressure to get a “belligerent India” to back down from decimating an “innocent Pakistan”. Even as the Pakistani establishment plays on international concerns of a potential “nuclear flashpoint.”

Unfortunately for Pakistan, having continued to pursue the use of terror, it is no longer able to generate sympathy and support for being an unwitting victim.

The world has changed and moved on as India’s true friends are showing firm support and the rest, concerned with a nuclear escalation and not wanting to pick sides, urge restraint from both sides. Even China, interestingly, has simply expressed concern and urged the return to peace in the neighborhood. For the moment it hasn’t come out in open support of Pakistan, its all-weather ally.

India’s strategy reset has several unique facets. After having crossed the Rubicon in 2019 when it used offensive air power in conditions of no-war-no-peace to strike the Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp in Balakot, air strikes against terror have evidently become a significant part of the operational repertoire of the Indian Air Force as well as a kinetic response option of the nation.

Equally encouraging is the fresh approach of an integrated military action of this scale, jointly conceived, planned and executed, for the first time since the 1971 war.

The Prime Minister, in his meeting with the Raksha Mantri, the Chief of Defence Staff and the three Service Chiefs, not only provided clear political directions and freedom of action. His message was also a loud strategic signal of things to come.

What followed was a classic multi-domain, multi-mode kinetic action with the core competencies of each Service, that opened page one of the Indian military’s new play book.

This is just the beginning. As the kinetic pressure against terror targets continues, Pakistan, with no quid pro quo targets, is left with the only option of continued artillery attacks along the border and indiscriminate firing on forward Indian military and civilian positions.

That raising the ante will definitely trigger an escalated response is no longer in doubt; it has been made very clear in India’s response to Pakistan and a message to the world.

However, we must also be clear that all military action when pursued as a deliberate national policy will come with a price. Loss of civilian lives and military setbacks will be inevitable as the scale and duration of the deliberate use of force increases.

The primacy of minimising civilian collateral is evident in the widespread revival of civil defence and passive air defence drills, which India has already initiated.

Military losses, on the other hand, are an acceptable professional hazard, which all warriors accept in their sacred covenant to defend the state and its citizens. This must not deter the nation from continuing on its much-needed chosen path of employing force in its statecraft, having exhausted its strategic patience against a recalcitrant and hostile neighbour.

Militaries are meant to fight and they will until all political objectives are met. After all, they have the strength of the entire nation behind them and the moral ascendancy of just and righteous action. Vengeance is best served cold.

Operation Sindoor has signalled key shifts in India’s strategy for dealing with the neighbour

Lt Gen DS Hooda retd.

ON the night of May 6-7, India launched Operation Sindoor, comprising a series of military strikes against terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan. Nine terror camps were hit, which included five in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and four in the Punjab province. Among the most significant targets were Muridke and Bahawalpur.

Muridke, about 40 km from Lahore, is the headquarters of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and its front organisation, Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The Resistance Front (TRF), which initially claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam massacre, is known to be affiliated with the LeT. Bahawalpur is home to the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which operates from the Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah complex, also known as the Usman-o-Ali campus.

Operation Sindoor is significantly larger in scale and scope than the cross-border strikes in 2016 and 2019. The message that it sends out is also far more powerful and unequivocal. And in this message, there are some key shifts in India’s future strategy for dealing with Pakistan.

First, major terror attacks will meet with a punitive response. Since the limited strikes of 2016 and 2019 failed to deter Pakistan from using terrorism as an instrument of state policy, greater pain must be felt by those who are directly controlling the terrorist movement. If the Pakistani military is unwilling to rein in the terrorist leadership, then India will do so using the military instrument.

India has long adopted a posture of strategic restraint. However, the shifting security environment, particularly after the gruesome Pahalgam attack, has triggered a recalibration. Targeting deeper locations like Bahawalpur and Muridke indicates that India no longer considers mere retaliation sufficient. The new approach seeks to alter cost-benefit calculations for those orchestrating terrorism from across the border.

At the government briefing after Operation Sindoor, a montage of past terror attacks (from the 2001 Parliament attack to Mumbai 2008, Uri 2016, Pulwama 2019 and the Pahalgam attack) was shown to underscore the toll of cross-border terror, after which the message “…No More” flashed. The presentation may have appeared dramatic, but it underlined India’s resolve that it would no longer tolerate terrorism emanating from Pakistani soil.

Second, there are two choices in front of the Pakistan Army. It must either dismantle the entrenched military-jihad complex it has long nurtured, or risk plunging the country into a ruinous conflict with India, one that could push Pakistan deeper into instability and peril.

For decades, the Pakistan Army has treated jihadi groups as strategic assets, using them to bleed India while maintaining plausible deniability. With Operation Sindoor, India is making it clear that there is no distinction between the state and the proxies it sponsors. This blurring of lines is deliberate. By hitting targets in Punjab, India signals that safe havens are no longer immune, regardless of their political sensitivity.

In his briefing to the press, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said India’s “actions were measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible. They focused on dismantling the terrorist infrastructure and disabling terrorists likely to be sent across to India.” This was a subtle message to Pakistan that the escalation could be controlled if it restrains from any military retaliation, and in the long run, puts a check on terrorist activities. Whether the Pakistan Army heeds this message is uncertain.

Third, India is clear that space exists for a limited conventional conflict below the nuclear threshold. Pakistan flashes its nuclear card at the very first opportunity whenever there is an India-Pakistan crisis. Minister Hanif Abbasi has stated that if India were to halt water supply to Pakistan by suspending the Indus Waters Treaty, Islamabad would be prepared to strike with nuclear weapons. Muhammad Khalid Jamali, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Russia, made a similar threat.

India no longer sees itself as constrained by Pakistan’s nuclear blackmail. It has gradually moved up the ladder in the use of conventional forces to target terror infrastructure in Pakistan. Operation Sindoor, with its strikes in the Punjab heartland, has set a new standard in the employment of airpower, once considered highly escalatory, in responding to terror attacks.

Fourth, the clamour from some international quarters for providing direct evidence linking Pakistan to terror attacks in India has run its course. India has been the victim of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism for decades and is on firm ground when it states that the fountainhead of terrorism lies in that country. The problem is not the foot soldiers who execute the attack, but the terrorist and army leadership in Pakistan that nurtures terrorism.

The demand for irrefutable proof ignores the nature of proxy warfare. Terror outfits are designed precisely to offer deniability. The consistency of terror attacks in India, the identity of the perpetrators, their training grounds, ideological narratives and sources of funding all point to an ecosystem that cannot function without state patronage.

Fifth, there is also a message for the international community. There is a level of frustration in India over the inability of global institutions like the United Nations to hold Pakistan accountable for its support to terrorism. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar admitted in the National Assembly that he had worked hard to get the reference to the terror group TRF removed from the final text of the UN Security Council resolution condemning the Pahalgam attack.

While international opinion and diplomatic support are important, they are not key factors when deciding on India’s options to respond to Pakistan’s terrorism. Platitudes that seek to equate both countries and call on them to exercise restraint, irrespective of the nature of the provocation, will be ignored by India.

Operation Sindoor sets new doctrinal benchmarks: that terror infrastructure will be struck; that nuclear deterrence will not shield proxy actors; that the global community’s moral ambivalence will not override India’s sovereign choices; and that the Pakistan Army must reckon with the consequences of its long-standing compact with jihadist groups.

Unfortunately, this makes South Asia a less stable region. Pakistan must now confront the hard truth about the trajectory of its future if it continues down the path of using terrorism as a state policy.

Guv Kataria reviews emergency preparedness

Nitin Jain Tribune News Service

The UT Administration has pulled all the stops to thwart any possible strike from across the border after Chandigarh was unsuccessfully targeted by Pakistan on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.

The Pakistan’s retaliatory attempt followed India’s missile strikes on terror bases, including Bahawalpur, a stronghold of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror group to avenge the Pahalgam massacre, as well as drone strikes on several Pakistani cities, including Lahore, in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Sources said the Mullanpur Air Force base and DRDO’s two major establishments in Chandigarh — the Defence Geoinformatics Research Establishment (DGRE) and the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) — have been put under enhanced security and vigilance. Besides, the international airport in Mohali, which has already been shut since Wednesday after the IAF took control of it and all civilian flights were cancelled till further orders, has also been put under tight security.

It was also learnt that coordination between Chandigarh and neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana has been further strengthened with security drills, including special nakas (check-points) at the entry and exit points, put in place to increase the police presence on the ground and check any possible infiltration of terrorists.

Taking cognisance of the situation, the Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria personally supervised the civil defence mock drill conducted at the Sector 17 Plaza, one of the busiest public places in the city, this afternoon. He ordered for foolproof arrangements to thwart any possible terror attack in the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana.

Meanwhile, the drill a Sector 17 was part of the ongoing exercise being carried out by the UT Administration since Wednesday to test the emergency preparedness in Chandigarh.

“Following the reports of Chandigarh being on Pakistan’s radar and the unsuccessful attempts by the Pakistani military to strike installations here, the Governor-cum-Administrator reviewed the security arrangements at all vital installations and public places while directing to beef up the bandobast to thwart any possible terror attack,” a senior UT official told The Tribune.

Kataria, it was learnt, sought for the details of the vital installations in the city and its periphery as well and instructed the Administration as well as the state governments concerned to ensure foolproof security details inside, outside and around all vital installations. Such measures will also be taken at all public places, including international airport in Mohali, railway stations, bus stands, malls, government buildings and other spots with considerable public footfall.

“The situation is fully under control and there is no need to panic. But, keeping in view the evolving situation and after coming to know about the nefarious designs of our enemy, we have further strengthened our security and response system to foil any possible terror attack,” said an official, while adding that the UT Administration was fully geared up to deal with any exigency.

Schools to remain shut in tricity, Panjab university defers exams

The Chandigarh Education Department has ordered the closure of all schools in the city on Friday and Saturday. A similar order was also issued by the Mohali district administration. The anganwadis will also remain closed. The Panchkula administration ordered the closure of all schools till Monday. Meanwhile, the Panjab University’s Controller of Examination issued a notification deferring the exams scheduled for May 9, 10 and 12.

The number of visitors coming to watch the event dropped considerably

GS Paul Tribune News Service

The Beating Retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border in Amritsar has been suspended for visitors, till further orders, a Border Security Force (BSF) official said. The development comes after the Indian armed forces carried out missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir on early Wednesday. It is learnt that the ceremonious drill was suspended due to drop in number of visitors.

The official said these measures had been taken keeping in view the security of visitors. “The customary flag-lowering ritual has to be executed, which is done by the BSF, but no public is permitted to watch the event. There will be no ceremonial show,” he said.

The notice “Parade is closed” in English and Hindi languages has been pasted on the passage leading to the spectators’ gallery.

The military strikes were conducted under “Operation Sindoor”, two weeks after the terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22 that left 26 people, mostly tourists, dead.

Following the attack, the BSF had “scaled down” the event with “close gates at the zero line, suspension of the symbolic gesture of “handshake” between Indian guard commander and his counterpart from the Pakistan side.

Meanwhile, some outstation tourists reached the border to attend the ceremony, but were supportive when denied access. A group of tourists from Gujarat said they had no regrets for not being allowed to watch the flag lowering ceremony. Tourists said they had come to cheer up soldiers. Nikhil Aujha said India had given a befitting reply to the Pahalgam terror attack.

“There is no reason to show resentment over not being allowed to watch the flag lowering ceremony,” he said. Echoing same views, another tourist GB Patel said, “We are proud of our soldiers. We are ambassadors for peace and love, but that does not imply that we should not retort to the nefarious designs of our enemies,” he said.

Adhiram Chauhan from Madhya Pradesh said, “We have come for the first time here. We no grudge over not being able to watch the retreat ceremony. All decisions are taken keeping in view our security.”

Earlier in 2021, the surge in Covid-19 cases had compelled the BSF to suspend visitors’ access to the spectators’ gallery.

Public gatherings put off, leave of govt officials cancelled

All schools in six border districts of Punjab — Ferozpur, Pathankot, Fazilka, Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran — have been shut until further orders. The state, which shares a 532-km border with Pakistan, also saw the cancellation of all public gatherings in border areas.

Along with Punjab, the border states of Rajasthan and Gujarat and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir were placed on high alert following intense retaliatory shelling from across the border in several areas.

Late on Thursday night, blackouts were reported in Gurdaspur and Pathankot, where Pakistani drones attempted to infiltrate. Sirens blared across Jammu as Pakistan launched heavy shelling in the region.

AdvertisementThe entire air defence grid along the western frontier, stretching down to Gujarat, was activated in response. Earlier, authorities cancelled public events, shut educational institutions and revoked leave for government employees, directing them to remain at their headquarters. The BSF intensified surveillance along sensitive zones.

In Rajasthan, schools, anganwadis and coaching centres were shut until further notice, while airports in Kishangarh and Jodhpur were ordered to remain closed until May 10. The BSF heightened patrolling and air defence units were placed on high alert in the border districts of Barmer, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner and Sri Ganganagar. Examinations in these areas were postponed and hospitals were instructed to stock up on blood and emergency medicines. District officials were directed to curb fake news and secure sensitive locations.

Read MoreGujarat reinforced security measures, placing railway stations on high alert. Civilian flights from Bhuj and Rajkot airports were suspended for three days, with both facilities now reserved for military operations following a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) issued on May 7. Security forces increased patrolling in coastal and border regions, particularly in Jamnagar. Teams from the Special Operations Group (SOG), Marine Police and Task Force commandos conducted security checks along sensitive stretches, including Halar beach near the Pakistan border.

At Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, flight cancellations and delays caused chaos due to airspace restrictions and ongoing military drills. Railway stations also saw heightened security, with the RPF, GRP and Quick Reaction Teams conducting joint sweeps, intensified baggage screening and anti-sabotage drills. Flag marches were held to ensure public safety.

Police, Army and IAF officials arrive at the scene, secure the parts

Panic gripped residents in the border districts of Punjab on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday after loud explosions and sudden blackouts rocked the area.

On Thursday, missile debris was found in agricultural fields across three villages, Jethuwal, Makhanwindi and Pandher, with some fragments even scattered inside homes in Jethuwal. No casualties or property damage were reported.Officials of the police, Army and Indian Air Force arrived at the scene and secured the debris.

The Ministry of Defence stated that Pakistan had attempted to target multiple military installations in northern and western India, but the attacks were thwarted by India’s air defence systems. A police official confirmed that the recovered debris belonged to missiles launched by Pakistan.

In Makhanwindi village, authorities urged locals to stay at least 500 metres away from the debris as a precaution against potential live explosives.

Sukhchain Singh, a resident of Jethuwal, recounted hearing a massive explosion around 1.15 am, which jolted villagers awake. “We rushed outside and saw bright lights in the sky, followed by another blast,” he said. By morning, they discovered missile fragments in their fields and alerted the police.

Surjit Singh from Makhanwindi said the developments had caused widespread panic in the area, with many residents unable to sleep due to the blasts. He appealed to both governments to exercise restraint.

Harchand Singh, SHO of Jandiala Guru police station, said they received reports of missile debris near the Amritsar-Batala road and immediately notified higher authorities as well as the Army and Air Force.

Amritsar MP Gurjit Singh Aujla, who visited the site, urged the residents to stay calm. “The Army and police are investigating the origin of these missile parts. It is regrettable that Pakistan targeted civilian areas, whereas India’s actions were focused on terrorist camps within their territory,” he said.