‘Drones and missiles’: India claims Pakistan launched major attack

India has claimed Pakistan launched an air attack using drones and missiles before its retaliation as violence between the nuclear-armed neighbours escalates.

Pakistan launched an air attack using “drones and missiles” before India retaliated, New Delhi has claimed.

It comes as authorities shut down airports in three major Pakistani cities after the country’s military said it shot down 25 Indian drones.

India’s government said Thursday that Pakistan had launched an air attack overnight, before New Delhi retaliated to destroy an air defence system in the Pakistani city of Lahore.

“Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets ... using drones and missiles,” the defence ministry said in a statement, adding that “these were neutralised” by India’s air defence systems.

A man inspects the roof of a building that was damaged by Pakistani artillery shelling. Picture: AP Photo

New Delhi said that areas targeted included sites in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, and India’s Punjab state, including the key cities of Amritsar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, as well as Bhuj in Gujarat state.

“The debris of these attacks is now being recovered from a number of locations,” it added.

The defence ministry said that on Thursday morning its military had “targeted air defence radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan”, saying that the “response

Airports in three major Pakistani cities will be closed until at least 11pm on Thursday (AEST) as violence between India and Pakistan escalates.

Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority made the announcement after the country’s military said it shot down Indian drones.

Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad airports will “remain closed until 6pm,” (local time), they said, citing “operational reasons”.

The Australian government was urging people to reconsider their need to travel if they had plans to go to Pakistan, while those headed to India were being advised to “exercise a high degree of caution”.

INDIA AND PAKISTAN TRADE FIRE

Indian and Pakistani soldiers exchanged gunfire overnight in Kashmir, New Delhi also said Thursday, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, with days of repeated gunfire along their border escalating into artillery shelling.

“We will avenge each drop of the blood of these martyrs,” Sharif said, in an address to the nation.

Metal pieces of Indian missiles lie on the compound of a mosque building damaged by an Indian missile attack, near Bahawalpur, in Pakistan. Picture: AP

India said it had destroyed nine “terrorist camps” in Pakistan in “focused, measured and non-escalatory” strikes, two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing an attack on tourists in the Indian-administered side of disputed Kashmir -- a charge Pakistan denies.

At least 45 deaths have been reported from both sides of the border following Wednesday’s violence, including children.

Islamabad said 31 civilians were killed by Indian strikes and firing along the border.

New Delhi said 13 civilians and a soldier had been killed by Pakistani fire. Pakistan’s military also said five Indian jets had been downed across the border, but New Delhi has not responded to the claims.

An Indian senior security source, who asked not to be named, said three of its fighter jets had crashed on home territory.

PAKISTAN WARNS IT WILL ‘AVENGE’ DEATHS FROM INDIAN STRIKES

Pakistan has warned it will “avenge” those killed by Indian air strikes that New Delhi said were in response to an attack in Kashmir, signalling an imminent escalation in the worst violence in decades between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

At least 43 deaths have been reported so far, with Islamabad saying 31 civilians were killed by the Indian strikes and firing along the border, and New Delhi adding at least 12 dead from Pakistani shelling.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addresses the special session at the National Assembly in Islamabad. Picture: AFP

Villagers carry their belongings as they move to safer areas after authorities evacuated residents living near the border at Jeora Farm on the outskirts of Jammu. Picture: AFP

“We make this pledge, that we will avenge each drop of the blood of these martyrs,” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in an address to the nation.

India’s army said it destroyed nine “terrorist camps” in Pakistan in the early hours of Wednesday, two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing an attack on tourists in the Indian-administered side of disputed Kashmir — a charge Pakistan denies.

Civil Defence members, firefighters and NDRF personnel participate in the nationwide 'Blackout' war preparedness drill in Lucknow, India. Picture: Getty Images

Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said five Indian jets had been downed across the border.

An Indian senior security source, who asked not to be named, said three of its fighter jets had crashed on home territory.

The two sides have exchanged heavy artillery fire along the Line of Control that divides Kashmir, which both countries claim in full but administer separately.

The South Asian neighbours have fought two full-scale wars over the divided territory since they were carved out of the sub-continent after gaining independence from British rule in 1947.

India said that its actions “have been focused, measured and non-escalatory”. Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif accused Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of launching the strikes to “shore up” his domestic popularity, adding that Islamabad “won’t take long to settle the score”.

‘PEOPLE ARE FLEEING’

On Thursday, the Pakistani military spokesman said firing was “ongoing” at the Line of Control and that Islamabad would take retaliatory action against the air strikes.

Chaudhry reiterated Pakistan’s “right to respond, in self-defence, at time, place, and manner of its choosing,” adding that the armed forces had been “authorised” to do so by the government.

The largest Indian strike was on an Islamic seminary near the Punjab city of Bahawalpur, killing 13 people, according to the Pakistan military.

A woman living in a village near the Line of control between India and Pakistan and got injured in Pakistani shelling is brought to a hospital in Uri, in Indian controlled Kashmir. Picture: AP Photo

An army soldier stands guard on the rooftop of a mosque building damaged by a suspected Indian missile attack near Muzaffarabad. Picture: AP

Pakistan also said a hydropower plant in Kashmir was targeted by India, damaging a dam structure, after India threatened to stop the flow of water on its side of the border.

India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the operation was New Delhi’s “right to respond” following the attack on tourists in Pahalgam in Kashmir last month.

Pakistan has denied any involvement in that assault, which killed 26 people, mainly Hindu men, on April 22.

Army soldiers examine a building damaged by a suspected Indian missile attack near Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan controlled Kashmir. Picture: AP

Meanwhile, Australians should reconsider their need to travel to Pakistan as the “threat of terrorist attacks and kidnapping remains very high” and be wary of border closures and flight disruptions.
Smartraveller warns Aussies in Pakistan to contact their airlines amid ongoing airspace shutdowns and “avoid large groups of people, demonstrations, and protests, as they can turn violent quickly.”
There are similar warning in place for India, particularly in the northwest region.

Debris from an aircraft in Wuyan near Indian-administered Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar. Picture: AFP

In response, Pakistan launched counter-attacks and conducted two missile tests, further raising alarm among international observers.

India, however, insisted it was not targeting military facilities. “Justice is served,” the Indian army said in a statement, adding that its strikes were “focused, measured and non-escalators in nature.”

Indian soldiers walk along a street in Wuyan near Indian-administered Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar after a loud explosion was heard. Picture: AFP

It later accused Pakistan of “indiscriminate” shelling across the Line of Control (LoC), killing three civilians.

The two neighbours, both armed with nuclear weapons, have fought multiple wars since their partition in 1947. But this latest flare-up marks one of the most volatile moments in years.

US, UK READY TO HELP DE-ESCALATE TENSIONS

US President Donald Trump called for India and Pakistan to immediately halt their fighting, and offered to help end the worst violence between the nuclear-armed countries in two decades.
The UK is ready to support both India and Pakistan to de-escalate tensions, Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said.

“Our message would be that we are a friend, a partner to both countries. We stand ready to support both countries. Both have a huge interest in regional stability, in dialogue, in de-escalation and anything we can do to support that, we are here and willing to do,” he told BBC radio.

Originally published as ‘Drones and missiles’: India claims Pakistan launched major attack