Blasts heard in Lahore, drone shot down day after India’s Op Sindoor
Sirens went off and people ran out of their homes as a series of loud explosions were heard in Pakistan’s Lahore on Thursday, Reuters and local media reported. The incident comes a day after India struck terror camps in Pakistan, in an operation named ‘Sindoor’, in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed 26 lives.
Local media reports said the blasts were heard in the Gopal Nagar and Naseerabad areas of Lahore near Walton Airport. Visuals showed people running out of their houses in panic and reported seeing clouds of smoke.
The area adjoins Lahore’s posh central business district and the Lahore army cantonment. Local reports said flight operations at Sialkot and Lahore airports have also been suspended.
Police sources said the explosion might have been caused by a drone, measuring 5-6 feet. The drone was reportedly shot down by jamming the system, the sources said.
No casualties or damage to civilian infrastructure have been reported so far.
OPERATION SINDOOR: TERROR CAMPS STRUCK IN PAK
On Wednesday, a joint operation by the Army and the Indian Air Force (IAF) destroyed terror camps in nine locations in Pakistan linked to banned outfits Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) under ‘Operation Sindoor’.
While the IAF carried out air-to-surface missile attacks using Rafale jets, the Army simultaneously launched surface-to-surface missiles, sources said. The precision strikes killed 80-90 terrorists in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, sources said.
The government, however, maintained that no Pakistani military infrastructure was attacked, and the selected sites were chosen with care to prevent the loss of civilian lives.
In his first reaction to Operation Sindoor, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif termed it an “act of war” imposed by India. Even though India provided ample visual proof of terror camps being targeted, Pakistan claimed that the strikes killed civilians, including women and children.
In response to the strikes, the Pakistani army opened artillery fire, targeting the civilian population along the Line of Control in the Poonch-Rajouri area, killing 15 civilians.
