Pakistan Shuts Its Airspace Amid Ongoing Deadly Conflict with India

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Key Points

Pakistan has closed its airspace to all flights for 24 hours, as announced by the country’s military.
On Saturday, Pakistan reported launching counterattacks against India.
Casualty estimates suggest that at least 48 people have been killed since Wednesday on both sides of the border.

In response to a series of attacks on air bases reportedly initiated by India, Pakistan’s airspace has been closed for all flights for 24 hours.

“Pakistan’s airspace will be closed to all flights until Sunday at 12:00 pm,” according to a statement from the military.

India has also closed several airports in its northern and western areas, as reported by the Associated Press.

This recent conflict marks the most intense fighting between the two nuclear-armed South Asian nations in nearly 30 years.

On Saturday, two loud explosions were reported near the Srinagar airport and the army’s local headquarters in Indian-administered Kashmir, according to officials, a Reuters witness, and local residents.

Officials and residents also reported hearing two blasts in Baramulla town, as told to Reuters.

Earlier on Saturday, Pakistan said it launched a military operation against India targeting multiple bases, including a missile storage site in northern India.

Pakistan said that before its offensive, India had fired missiles at three air bases, including one close to the capital, Islamabad, but Pakistani air defences intercepted most of them.

On Saturday, the Indian army reported fresh Pakistani attacks along the border.

“Pakistan’s blatant escalation with drone strikes and other munitions continues along our western border,” the army said on social media platform X.

Locked in a longstanding dispute over Kashmir, which both countries administer separate portions of, the two countries have engaged in daily clashes since Wednesday, when on what it called “terrorist infrastructure”.

Pakistan vowed to retaliate.

In a message to journalists, Pakistan’s military said a missile storage site in the Indian city of Beas had been “taken out”, adding that the Pathankot airfield in India’s western Punjab state and Udhampur Air Force Station in Indian-administered Kashmir were also hit.

Pakistan’s information minister said in a post on social media site X that the military operation was named “Operation Bunyanun Marsoos”.

The term is taken from the Quran and means a firm, united structure.

Pakistan’s planning minister announced on local television that “special measures” had been enacted to avoid civilian casualties, focusing instead on sites used for targeting Pakistan.

A man inspects a room damaged by Pakistan artillery shelling in the Indian-administered Kashmir area of Uri. Source: Anadolu / Getty Images

Sounds of explosions were reported in Srinagar and Jammu, where sirens were sounded, a Reuters witness said.

“India through its planes launched air-to-surface missiles … Nur Khan base, Mureed base and Shorkot base were made targets,” Pakistan military spokesperson Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in a late-night televised statement.

The chief minister of Indian-administered Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, said in a statement that a local administration official had been killed by shelling in Rajouri, near the line of control that acts as a de facto boundary in the contested region.

One of the three air bases that Pakistan said were targeted by India is in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, just outside the capital Islamabad.

The other two are in Pakistan’s eastern province of Punjab, which borders India.

According to preliminary damage assessments by the Pakistani military, only a few missiles penetrated the air defences, and they did not hit any “air assets.”

People light candles during a vigil for victims of an Indian missile strike on a mosque in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Source: AAP / Amiruddin Mughal / EPA

India has said its strikes on Wednesday, which started the clashes between the countries, were in retaliation for a , which it accuses Pakistan of backing.

Pakistan has denied India’s accusations that it was involved in the tourist attack, in which 26 civilians were killed.

Since Wednesday, the two countries have exchanged cross-border fire and shelling, and sent drones and missiles into each other’s airspace.

Much of the fighting on Friday was in Indian-administered Kashmir and states bordering Pakistan. India said it shot down Pakistani drones.

On Friday, Group of Seven (G7) countries urged maximum restraint from both India and Pakistan and called on them to engage in direct dialogue.

Among the G7 powers, the US has held regular talks with both India and Pakistan in recent days and urged them to de-escalate.

After a call on Friday between secretary of state Marco Rubio and Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir, the US State Department said Rubio offered US assistance “in starting constructive talks in order to avoid future conflicts”.

Rubio has also held regular calls with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar since the end of April.

At least 48 people have been killed since Wednesday, according to casualty estimates on both sides of the border that have not been independently verified.

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