Day after Op Sindoor, Pak again resorts to unprovoked firing across LoC

The Pakistani Army once again resorted to unprovoked firing during the intervening night of May 7 and 8 across several sectors along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Army responded promptly and proportionately, according to an official statement.

 

The firing, involving both small arms and artillery, targeted areas opposite Kupwara, Baramulla, Uri, and Akhnoor in Jammu and Kashmir. 

 

The incident came a day after the Indian armed forces launched precision airstrikes early on Wednesday as part of Operation Sindoor, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam. The operation focused on nine specific sites linked to the planning and coordination of cross-border attacks on Indian soil.

 

Intense shelling along the LoC 

On Wednesday, the Pakistani Army carried out one of the heaviest artillery and mortar shelling attacks in recent years, targeting forward villages along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir, reports news agency PTI. The intense shelling left at least 13 people dead and 57 others injured. 

 

According to the report, the heavy and indiscriminate shelling caused widespread panic, particularly in the worst-affected areas of Poonch and Rajouri in the Jammu region, as well as Baramulla and Kupwara in north Kashmir. Hundreds of residents were forced to flee to safer locations or seek shelter in underground bunkers. Shelling was reported across the LoC in Poonch, including Balakote, Mendhar, Mankote, Krishna Ghati, Gulpur, Kerni, and even the Poonch district headquarters.

 

Nationwide civil defence mock drill 

A nationwide civil defence mock drill was launched on Wednesday, just hours after India conducted airstrikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. This extensive preparedness exercise, conducted across 244 districts, is the first of its scale in decades and has been initiated by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). 

 

According to the MHA, the drill is intended to evaluate India’s emergency response capabilities, especially in light of the current geopolitical tensions. Participating states include Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, and key border regions such as Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Gujarat.