Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday indulged in a small game of cricket at a relief camp that has been set up to shelter residents affected by the increasingly unprovoked firing by Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC).
Videos on social media show Mr Abdullah swinging the bat as he plays cricket with a boy, amid cheers and claps from those seeking shelter in the camp in Samba. Another set of clips show him bowling as the same boy swings the bat.
This came as the National Conference leader visited various camps set up for the displaced border residents and hospitals in Jammu and Samba districts.
On Thursday, Mr Abdullah strongly condemned the recent wave of cross-border strikes through drones, missiles and shelling in Jammu and Poonch districts. “We did not create this situation. Our people were attacked in Pahalgam, and innocent civilians were killed. We had to respond,” he said, referring to India’s strike on terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, in the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.
#WATCH | Jammu & Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah plays cricket with a young boy at the camp set up for locals affected by Pakistan shelling in Samba pic.twitter.com/L3QuvAFonT
— ANI (@ANI) May 9, 2025
Several towns in Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat sounded sirens and enforced blackouts after Pakistan’s armed forces launched multiple attacks using drones and other munitions on military infrastructure, along the entire western border in the intervening night of Thursday and Friday. The Indian Army said the attacks were “effectively repulsed”.
The developments came after India foiled similar attempts at 15 places in northern and western regions of the country on Wednesday.
The force is on high alert in the wake of the current hostilities between the two countries following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people and India’s strike on terror targets in Pakistan and PoK.
