New Delhi:
Pakistan military targeted civilian areas, including medical facilities and a school, as it continued attacks along the western frontier last night, the Indian armed forces said on Saturday. Top defence officers, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, alongside Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, shared details of the escalation by Pakistan and India’s retaliation at a special media briefing this morning.
“Pakistani military continued with its provocations, carrying out aggressive actions, employing multiple threat vectors all along the western border. Pakistan employed U-CAV drones, long-range weapons, loitering munitions and fighter aircraft to target civilian areas and military infrastructure,” Wing Commander Singh told reporters. Follow live updates here
Among the civilian infrastructure targeted by Pakistan were a medical centre and school premises, she said.
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“In a deplorable and cowardly act, targeting of civilian infrastructure had also taken place. Pakistan attacked medicare centres and a school premise at the airbases in Srinagar, Awantipora, and Udhampur, yet again displaying the irresponsible targeting of our civilian infrastructure,” said the officer.
Mr Misri said Pakistan’s attacks on civilian areas were focused in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.
Pakistan also attempted multiple air intrusions to target civilian infrastructure along the Line of Control (LoC) and killed some civilians, said Wing Commander Singh, adding that Indian forces responded swiftly and targeted only identified military targets.
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“Heavy exchange of artillery mortars and small-arm fire in Kupwara, Baramulla, Poonch, Rajouri and Akhnoor sectors continued. The Indian Army has responded effectively and proportionately, causing extensive damage to the Pakistan Army,” she added.
Foreign Secretary Misri described it as an “execrable and wanton campaign” by Islamabad to target civilians. He also pointed out that a senior official died in shelling by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri, which added to the civilian casualties.
“There has been a particular focus on its targeting of civilian infrastructure and the population in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab. Earlier this morning, Pakistan shelled the town of Rajouri, killing the Additional District Development Commissioner Shri Raj Kumar Thapa, adding to the civilian casualties and the damage in that state,” he said.
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Mr Misri said the overnight shelling caused damage to property and injuries to civilians in Punjab’s Ferozepur and Jalandhar, among other places.
The tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours had soared in the wake of the Pahalgam attack, in which 26 civilians were killed, and prompted Indian airstrikes on terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir as part of Operation Sindoor.
