India repels Pak attacks for 2nd night in a row

Forces down drones that attacked 26 spots; 3 injured in attack on civilian area in Ferozepur; New Delhi retaliates against Pak proportionally

- Rahul Singh, Gaurav Sagar Bhaskar, Mir Ehsan and Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

NEW DELHI/FEROZEPUR/SRINAGAR/JAMMU: India hit back at Pakistan on Friday night after repelling Pakistani drone strikes at 26 locations in Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, as Islamabad ratcheted up hostilities for the second straight day, raising fears of a full-blown conflict.

Three civilians were injured in an armed drone strike in Punjab's Ferozepur town.

Drones were sighted across a wide arc of locations - ranging from Baramulla and Srinagar in the north to Bhuj in the westalong both the international border and the Line of Control, the army said.

"The Indian armed forces are maintaining a high state of alert, and all such aerial threats are being tracked and engaged using counter-drone systems.

The situation is under close and constant watch, and prompt action is being taken wherever necessary," the army said.

The strikes came a day after Pakistan targeted 36 locations inside India with 300 to 400 Turkish-origin armed drones and used civilian airliners as a shield to attack military sites, prompting New Delhi to strike Islamabad's air defence systems at four places and destroying one of them.