Pakistan attempts hitting Jammu airport, city; 8 missiles intercepted, blackout initiated

Tribune News Service

Civil defence drill was activated in Jammu city on Thursday evening after loud bangs were heard at least thrice at a close interval of about 15 minutes.

A complete blackout ensued as counter-measures were initiated.

Residents across Greater Kailash, RS Pora, Chhani Himmat reported hearing massive bangs in and around the city areas quickly followed by a spotting of several red balls in the air.

Akhil Razdan, a resident of Greater Kailash, Jammu, said it looked like a drone or a missile attack “very close to where he lived in Greater Kailash but it was intercepted very quickly.”

Razdan said he lived very close to the airport at a distance of around 7 km.

”I heard a loud bang and thought these were firecrackers. So I went to the terrace to look things up and spotted at least eight red balls in the direction of the bang. It looked like a drone attack from across the border which our air defence systems intercepted. As soon as the red balls were seen, the air sirens went off and there was a complete blackout,” Razdan said.

Vijay Kumar, an RS Pora resident, reported the same sequence of events thrice and said it was still continuing.

Residents of city were left shocked when multiple explosions started in the sky, specifically near Jammu airport and Sunjuwan Camp. At least eight explosions heard over Jammu.

Pakistan drones and missiles were intercepted close to Sunjuwan military base.

Indian air defence units intercepted/blocked eight missiles directed at Satwari, Samba, RS Pura and Arnia.

It was around 8.15 pm when the first wave of drones or missiles started. Red coloured interceptor were seen all around in the sky hitting the targets.

Electricity in entire region was snapped and sirens were activated. Many people were heard screaming as the interceptors hit the targets.

The attacks took place in at least five waves where multiple drones entered the sky of Jammu till 9.30 pm.

The fifth wave started at 9.22 pm.

The events signalled fresh Pakistan attempts at escalation. Yesterday, Pakistan had attempted to engage military targets at 15 locations in India and was thwarted by the Indian military’s air defence systems.

Even today, air defence systems of the military were engaged in Jammu to thwart Pakistan’s escalation attempts.

This escalation is of the next level as Pakistan has attempted to hit civilian areas in a city close to the border.

Defence sources said the Pakistani army was operating and behaving like terror organisation Hamas. Visuals over Jammu reminded of exactly Hamas-style attack on Israel carried out with multiple cheap rockets. Last month, the ISI and the Hamas met in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, they said.