Air raid sirens were heard in the national capital on Friday as part of a mock drill amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, and two waves of missile and drone attacks from across the border.
In a statement before the drill, the Delhi government said the Directorate of Civil Defence would be testing Air Raid Sirens installed at the Public Works Department (PWD) headquarters at ITO and asked people not to panic.
“The testing will commence at 3.00 PM and be carried out for a period of 15-20 minutes. Accordingly, it is requested that adequate publicity may be made through social and electronic media so that general public are advised to stay calm and not to panic during the said exercise,” the statement said.
District Magistrate (Central) G Sudhakar also urged people to remain calm and not be alarmed when they hear the sirens.
The drill began at 3 pm and sirens were sounded at least twice.
PWD Minister Parvesh Verma said 40-50 more such sirens will be installed across the national capital, each of which will cover an area of 8 km.
“We have started installing sirens in Delhi. At least 40-50 more sirens will be installed on high-rise buildings starting tonight and will have a range of 8 km. The installation should be completed in a couple of days. The sirens will be used during emergency situations and will be controlled from one command centre. They will be sounded for 5 minutes,” Mr Verma said in Hindi.
Pakistan Escalation
For the second day running, Pakistan launched a wave of missiles and drones at various military targets in India, including Pathankot in Punjab and Jammu and Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir, on Thursday. At least eight missiles were fired at various places in Jammu and Kashmir and drones were intercepted over Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. All of the missiles and drones were intercepted and shot down, foiling the Pakistani attack.
Blackouts were also enforced in various cities, including Amritsar, Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula and Jaisalmer.
In a statement on Friday, the Indian Army said, “Pakistan Armed Forces launched multiple attacks using drones and other munitions along entire Western Border on the intervening night of 08 and 09 May 2025. Pak troops also resorted to numerous ceasefire violations (CFVs) along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.”
“The drone attacks were effectively repulsed and befitting reply was given to the CFVs,” it said.
Thursday’s attacks followed the targeting of military installations in 15 cities, including Srinagar, Amritsar, Chandigarh and Bhuj, by Pakistan on Wednesday night. India had retaliated by attacking Pakistan’s air defence systems, neutralising at least one in Lahore.
In the early hours of Wednesday, India had targeted terror bases in several locations in Pakistan, including the headquarters of the Jaish-e-Mohammed in Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Muridke, in response to the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, in which 26 people were killed. The strikes marked the beginning of Operation Sindoor and Pakistan had been warned of a befitting reply if it decided to escalate.
