India-Pakistan live: Pakistan launches retaliation strikes after ‘India targets military bases’ – UK Times

In northern Punjab’s Amritsar city, home to the famous Golden Temple, the local administration issued a red alert this morning with sirens blaring in the area.

In an SMS message to residents, the administration requested they stay indoors and stay away from windows.

A red alert was also issued in the town of Bathinda, in Punjab, which happens to be the location of a key air force station.

Pakistan has continued to escalate the situation with drone strikes and other munitions along the western borders of India, said the Indian Army. “In one such incident, today at approximately 5am, multiple enemy armed drones were spotted flying over Khasa Cantt, Amritsar,” said the Indian military on X, adding that they were “instantly engaged and destroyed by our air defence units”.

“Pakistan’s blatant attempt to violate India’s sovereignty and endanger civilians is unacceptable. Indian Army will thwart enemy designs.”

Pakistan’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar said the country launched retaliatory strikes after exercising restraint for several days in the face of repeated Indian aggression.

“There was no other option because India showed no sincerity in response to the diplomatic efforts made by friendly countries,” Mr Dar told Geo News.

He said Pakistan had made it clear repeatedly that it reserves the right to respond under the provisions of the UN Charter, adding: “We acted only after India continued firing drones and missiles.”

He blamed India for the escalation, saying India gave no positive response to the efforts that were made by the international community to defuse the situation.

Mr Dar said the world wanted peace in the region, but India ignored all pleas from the international community.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio spoke with Pakistani army chief Asim Munir earlier today, according to the US Department of State.

He offered US assistance in starting constructive talks in order to avoid future conflicts, urging both parties to find ways to deescalate.

A civil administrator was killed and two people wounded in Pakistani shelling in a frontier town near the highly militarised Line of Control in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said on Saturday.

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said the official was killed when a Pakistani shell hit his house in southern Rajouri town early this morning.

Police said the official’s two staff members were critically injured.Indian and Pakistani soldiers have heavily exchanged artillery and gunfire along the Line of Control that divides the disputed Kashmir region between the two nuclear-armed rivals.

Indian officials said Pakistani troops barraged their posts overnight with artillery, mortars and gunfire at multiple locations in Kashmir. They said Indian soldiers responded.

Saturday’s killing takes the death toll in Indian-administered Kashmir to 19 since Wednesday when the two countries’ latest military standoff began. Pakistan has said Indian mortar and artillery fire has killed 17 civilians in Pakistan-administered Kashmir in the same period.

Pakistan’s military said that its retaliatory strikes against India are ongoing.

According to a statement by the military, the Pakistan Air Force’s JF-17 Thunder aircraft launched hypersonic missiles that struck a key Indian military facility in Adampur, in Punjab’s Jalandhar district where India has an air force base.

The military claimed that the Indian S-400 air defense system was destroyed in the strike on Adampur. India has not commented on any of the claims and there was no way to independently verify the information.

Pakistan has shut down every airport for all flight operations, according to the country’s civil aviation authority.

In a statement, it said the decision to close Pakistan’s airspace for all flights was made because of the developing situation following the attacks made by India.

Hours before Pakistan’s claim of India launching missiles into its territories to target airbases, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with top security officials, including defence minister Rajnath Singh, national security adviser Ajit Doval and the chiefs of the army, navy and air force.

A video released by Mr Modi’s office overnight showed one of the Indian military officials taking notes of the discussion. The video did not include sound.

Pakistan’s military launched a retaliatory strike with its Al-Fatah missile after naming it in memory of the Pakistani children killed during India’s strikes in various parts of the country this week, according to state-run Pakistan Television.

Calling it Pakistan’s counterstrike, state-run Pakistani media said the missile symbolised the nation’s resolve and served as a tribute to the young lives lost.

Pakistan Television said that Pakistan would never forget the children who were killed, emphasising that their memory lived on as a symbol of national unity and resilience.

Sirens blared for more than two hours on Friday in Amritsar, which houses the Golden Temple revered by Sikhs.

Tourists fled the city by road as the airport was closed.

“We really wanted to stay but the loud sounds, sirens, and blackouts are giving us sleepless nights. Our families back home are worried for us so we have booked a cab and are leaving,” said a Briton who did not want to be identified.

Schools were closed in the Bikaner region of India’s desert state of Rajasthan, and residents near the Pakistan border said they were told to consider moving in with relatives elsewhere or using government-arranged accommodation.