Key Points
- India says Pakistani drones caused explosions over Jammu, targeting military sites across five districts.
- New Delhi calls its cross-border strikes measured, while Pakistan denies backing militants.
- With blackouts and active defences reported, the US, Russia and China are urging restraint as tensions escalate.
Blasts rang out across the city of Jammu in Indian-administered Kashmir late on Thursday during what the government said was a Pakistani drone and missile attack on military stations around the Kashmir region on the second day of clashes between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
“Military stations at Jammu, Pathankot & Udhampur were targeted by Pakistani-origin drones and missiles along the international border in J&K today,” India’s Ministry of Defence said on X, citing places in and near the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The threats were swiftly neutralised …. No casualties or material losses were reported.”
While Pakistan has not officially commented on the strikes in Jammu, its defence minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, warned earlier that further retaliation was “increasingly certain” following what Islamabad described as Indian disinformation and aggression.
India maintains its actions were a “measured” and “non-escalatory” response to of Hindu pilgrims in Pahalgam, which it claims was backed by Pakistani-based militants.
On Wednesday, Indian forces struck nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir as part of “Operation Sindoor.”
Indian ambassador to the US Vinay Kwatra told CNN the strikes were intended to deliver a “certain finality” while avoiding broader military escalation.
Pakistan has denied involvement in the Pahalgam attack and insists the Indian strikes hit civilian areas, not militant infrastructure.
It claims to have shot down five Indian warplanes, including French-made Rafale jets, and 29 drones in retaliation, while reporting the deaths of 40 to 50 Indian troops along the Line of Control.
These figures remain unverified. India has rejected previous Pakistani claims as “misinformation,” and has not publicly confirmed aircraft losses or casualties.
As night fell, blackouts were reported in parts of Indian Punjab, Kashmir and Rajasthan, adding to residents’ anxiety.
Authorities in Pathankot, along with military insiders, confirmed that active air defence systems were launched to intercept additional drones and missiles coming from Pakistan.
Meanwhile, diplomatic fallout has begun. The US Consulate in Lahore ordered staff to shelter in place, and officials from Washington, Moscow and Beijing have all urged restraint.
A senior US official says American intelligence assessed at least one Indian fighter jet was downed by Pakistan during the exchange.
The relationship between India and Pakistan has been fraught with tension since they gained independence from colonial Britain in 1947. The countries have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir, and clashed many times.
The neighbours, which both claim Kashmir in full and rule over parts of it, separately acquired nuclear weapons in the 1990s.
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