PAK ESCALATES, INDIA STRIKES BACK

India hits back after thwarting Pak attack on military sites near the border using missiles and drones; reports say PAF jet shot down

- Ravi Krishnan Khajuria and Rahul Singh

India on Thursday night repelled multiple Pakistani strikes in Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, and clamped a blackout across a wide swathe of the western border, as Islamabad stepped up hostilities hours after New Delhi issued a stern warning against any escalation.

There were unconfirmed reports of Pakistani aircraft, including at least one F-16, being downed and at least one pilot being captured by Indian forces. There were also unconfirmed reports late in the evening that India was using drones to target military locations in Sialkot, Lahore and possibly Islamabad, as a response to the Pakistani strikes.

The shower of drone and missile strikes on military sites seen on Thursday - India had thwarted Pakistani attacks on 15 places the night before-represented the worst face-off between the two nuclear-armed neighbours in decades and ratcheted up fears of a fullblown conflict. It came a day after India's Operation Sindoor struck nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

Eight Pakistani missiles were intercepted at Satwari, Samba, RS Pura and Arnia in the Jammu region, defence officials said, as India's S400 air defence system shot down hostile missiles at multiple places along the western border. Drone and missile attacks were confirmed on military stations in Jammu, Pathankot, Udhampur and Jalandhar -all close to the international border.

"Military stations at Jammu, Pathankot & Udhampur were targeted by Pakistani-origin drones and missiles along the international border in J&K today. The threats were swiftly neutralised using kinetic and non-kinetic capabilities in line with established standard operating procedures. No casualties or material losses were reported," said the defence ministry on X.