Pakistan military spokesperson Lieutenant General Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry told a hurriedly called press conference in Islamabad at around 4 am that th Pakistan air force's Nur Khan (Chaklala, Rawalpindi), Murid (Chakwal) and Rafiqui (Shorkot in Jhang district) airbases were targeted.
The terrorists who attacked the IAF base in Pathankot came in groups of four and two and the bigger group was ticked off by their Pakistani handler as to why they have fallen behind in reaching the target when their accomplices had already entered the complex.
Drones were sighted and explosions were heard in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, a day after India thwarted attempts by the Pakistan military to attack Indian military installations using drones and missiles. The drones were also engaged in Udhampur and Nagrota of Jammu and Punjab. Heavy cross-border shelling started along the International Border in Suchetgarh and Ramgarh sectors of Jammu and Samba districts. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah appealed to residents to stay indoors and ignore rumors.
According to sources, the NIA is trying to collect more information like Jaish-e-Mohammad as a terrorist organisation and its role in the attack.
India's precision strikes using an array of weapon systems and missiles on eight key installations ranging from air defence systems to radar sites and command centres of the Pakistani military forced Islamabad to urge New Delhi to end the hostilities, the sources said.
Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi told US Vice President JD Vance on May 9 that Indian response will be "more forceful, stronger, devastating" in response to Pakistani actions, the sources said.
They batted for better coordination between the Indian Air Force and the Army in guarding the air bases in case of exigencies like the one at Pathankot in Punjab.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has ordered formation of a high-profile joint investigation team to investigate the links of the Pathankot air base attackers with Pakistan, a media report said on Monday.
A day after its return from India, the Pakistani Joint Investigation Team probing the Pathankot attack claimed that Indian authorities "failed" to provide evidence
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a comprehensive review of the national security scenario with top military leadership in India. The meeting comes after Pakistan's recent attempts to target Indian military installations using drones and missiles were thwarted. The meeting discussed the evolving security situation and the Indian military's response to the Pakistani attacks.
'Ajit Doval has done a splendid job in handling the Pathankot attack and certainly helped save heavy destruction of critical air force assets,' says Abhay Jere.
'Inept handling by the National Security Advisor transformed what should have been a short counter-terrorist operation in Pathankot into an apparent debacle.'
Given the magnitude of the operation of the air base, the operation will continue to be concluded till we are able to fully render the base safe.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif admitted that India's ballistic missiles hit Nur Khan Airbase and other sites on May 10, a rare acknowledgement that contradicts Pakistan's usual stance of denial when it comes to Indian military action.
The Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan on Monday deliberated on various aspects of the May 10 understanding reached between the two sides on cessation of hostilities.
India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Thursday that the choice of de-escalation is with Pakistan, as India only responded to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 people. He added that Pakistan has been escalating the situation with cross-border terrorism against India for decades.
IPL match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals in Dharamsala was abruptly halted midway due to escalating security concerns on Thursday.
Local residents said a migrant labourer was injured in the incident, while a few houses in the area also sustained damage. Parts of the unidentified object were lying in the area, they said.
However, no casualty was reported in the blast that took place late on Sunday night in front of Triveni gate of the cantonment.
Condemning the terror attack on the Pathankot air force base, China said it may have been launched "intentionally" to disrupt the momentum in Indo-Pak ties.
In an interaction with naval warriors on board aircraft carrier INS Vikrant off Goa, Singh sent a stern warning to Islamabad saying India will not hesitate to use the methods to deal with terrorism that Pakistan cannot even think of.
'Will this near-war, India's strongest military response so far, buy India another seven years of deterrence?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
Defence sources said that the firing at the air force base in Punjab ceased on Tuesday morning after the attack that began in the wee hours on Saturday.
India successfully intercepted or neutralized all Pakistani missiles and drones that targeted 15 Indian cities on Wednesday night, according to official sources. The attack, which was launched in response to India's Operation Sindoor, involved the deployment of Barak-8 missiles, S-400 Triumph air defense systems, Akash surface-to-air missiles, and indigenously developed anti-drone equipment. India retaliated with precision strikes on Pakistani territory, destroying an HQ-9 air defense unit in Lahore and damaging key radar infrastructure. The incident highlights the strength of India's air defense capabilities and its ability to project power with surgical precision.
The move comes barely a few days before the Special Investigation Team of Pakistan visits here to ascertain the facts of the case and investigation carried out by the NIA.
Calm prevailed in Punjab, especially in the border areas of the state, on Sunday morning, following an understanding between India and Pakistan to stop all firings and military actions on land, air and sea.
Blackout measures have been imposed in many districts including Hoshiarpur, Ferozepur, Fazilka, Pathankot, Patiala, Moga, Kapurthala, and Muktsar districts.
People in several districts of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat spent an anxious night as authorities enforced blackouts amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan.
The Punjab government has refused to pay a bill of Rs 6.35 crore to the Center for deployment of paramilitary forces during and after the terror attack at Pathankot air force base.
As counter-terrorism operations at the Pathankot air base continued for the second consecutive day, the Union government on Sunday said it was unsure if more terrorists were still holed up.
Most of the suspects behind the killing of a key aide of Jaish e Mohammed terror group chief Masood Azhar and his two associates have been arrested, the police chief of Pakistan's Punjab province said on Friday, days after the trio were shot dead at a mosque in Sialkot city.
The government on Tuesday announced that only four terrorists had entered the Pathankot Air Force station to carry out the strike that left eight people dead. This is contrary to a statement made by Home Minister Rajnath Singh on March 4 when he had said that charred remains, apart from four bodies of terrorists, were found at the debris after security forces searched the Pathankot airforce station when the operation ended.
Meanwhile, a precautionary blackout has been enforfced in the multiple areas amid the esclating tensions between India and Pakistan.
The Bahawalpur centre is notorious for hoarding arms and ammunition left behind by the NATO forces in Afghanistan, the officials said.
The joint operation of Punjab Police, the Army, the Air Force and the Himachal Pradesh Police was launched following the intelligence input.
India is "mulling options" about foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan scheduled to be held in Islamabad on January 15, in light of the terror attack at Pathankot air base.
The terrorists who had stormed the Pathankot air base were "well trained" and "strongly stocked" with arms and ammunitions to inflict heavy damage to the assets stationed there and that explains the long counter-terror operations going on against them, top government sources said.
'The Pathankot episode shows that the security forces handled the attack well after the initial setback, although there is no denying that there are shortcomings in India's security grid that need urgent correction,' says national security expert Nitin Gokhale, founder, BharatShakti.in
More than 300 flights have been cancelled and at least 25 airports, including Srinagar, have been temporarily shut for operations amid restrictions in the wake of the armed forces launching missile attacks on terror targets in Pakistan on Wednesday morning.
From the Sensex firms, Eternal, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints, Power Grid and State Bank of India were among the laggards. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Titan, HCL Tech, Tata Motors, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services were the gainers.
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