New Delhi: Multiple reports and eyewitness accounts surfacing from Pakistan on social media mentioned a series of loud explosions as Indian missile strikes began a little after Tuesday midnight.
Three major explosions, according to accounts coming out on social media, were reported in Bahawalpur. The city in Pakistan’s Punjab province was targeted as it serves as headquarters of terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad.
The reports coming from Pakistan gave accounts of blackouts, explosions and mosque loudspeakers making emergency announcements, with chants of ‘Allahu Akbar’ echoing through the night.
Power outages were reported in Muzaffarabad shortly after the first wave of strikes, plunging the region into darkness. Further, there are reports of intense shelling sounds from the Chahal Bandi direction near the Line of Control (LoC).
FlightRadar24, an open source flight tracking platform, indicates a sudden clearance of Pakistani airspace, with several flights diverted. Furthermore, videos shared by locals on social media are surfacing, reporting flight cancellations at Lahore and Sialkot airports.
Meanwhile, Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif Chaudhary, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR), was said to have confirmed to Pakistani journalists that missiles were fired at Kotli, Muzaffarabad, and Bahawalpur late Wednesday night.
In a statement, the Indian defence ministry stated that the armed forces had launched Operation Sindoor to strike at terror infrastructure in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) and Pakistan’s Punjab province. No Pakistani military facilities were targeted, it added.
On ‘X’, the Indian Army posted that Pakistan again violated ceasefire by firing artillery in Bhimber Gali in Poonch-Rajauri area. The Indian Army is responding appropriately in a calibrated manner, it added.
(Edited by Tony Rai)