Within hours of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s briefing on Thursday, Pakistan launched a barrage of projectiles—missiles and drones—on Jammu and Pathankot in J&K and Punjab, respectively. Indian air defence systems intercepted these projectiles.
The Pakistani attack came after India launched a counter-strike in response to Pakistan’s attempts to hit 15 Indian cities and locations very early on Thursday morning. That wave of attacks was also repulsed.
During the Indian counter-strike, the air defence system of Lahore was taken out according to military spokeswomen who briefed the press today evening.
In his remarks at that briefing, Misri again repeated that India’s response was proportional to that of Pakistan and was non-escalatory. This was the fourth public message to Pakistan that India did not want escalation. At the same time, Misri said that India would respond to Pakistan if it chose to escalate. Within hours of the briefing Pakistan launched its second wave of attacks in less than 24 hours.
In Punjab, especially Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts, a blackout has been enforced as these districts are on India’s border with Pakistan. In its attacks on Thursday morning, Pakistan had targeted Awantipora and Srinagar in J&K, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bathinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai and Bhuj using drones and missiles.
Pakistan has indulged in heavy shelling on Poonch and other areas in J&K in the past two days leading to a number of civilian fatalities and serious injuries to dozens of people living there. 16 people were killed, including three women and children due to Pakistani firing.
Article sourced from OPEN Magazine: https://openthemagazine.com/
