
India foils massive Pakistani drone attack on Srinagar airport, Awantipora airfield amid LoC shelling
In addition to these locations, drones have been sighted at 26 locations ranging the Baramulla in the North to Bhuj in the South, along both the International Border and the Line of Control with Pakistan. These include suspected armed drones posing potential threats to civilian and military targets, according to an army statement.
The locations include Baramulla, Srinagar, Avantipora, Nagrota, Jammu, Ferozpur, Pathankot, Fazilka, Lalgarh Jatta, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bhuj, Kuarbet and Lakhi Nala.
An armed drone targeted a civilian area in Ferozpur, resulting in severe injuries to members of a local family. The injured have been provided medical assistance, and the area has been sanitised by security forces.
This comes after Pakistan resumed shelling along the Line of Control.
There were also reports of drones being engaged in Samba, Pathankot and Jammu amidst a blackout in Jammu and Baramulla.
According to the army statement, the armed forces are maintaining a high state of alert and all aerial threats are being tracked and engaged using counter-drone systems. The situation is under close watch and necessary action is being taken wherever necessary, the statement added.
Citizens in border areas have also been urged to stay indoors, avoid unnecessary movement, and follow safety instructions, with authorities stressing vigilance and no need for panic.
Heavy shelling was also reported in Uri. A woman identified as Nargis Begum had been killed when a Pakistani shell hit a vehicle near Mohura in Uri on Thursday.
CM Omar Abdullah, who is in Jammu, tweeted that, "intermittent sounds of blasts, probably heavy artillery, can now be heard from where I am."

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Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Rajasthan Police arrests suspects for plotting I-Day attack in Delhi, linked to Lawrence Bishnoi gang
The Rajasthan Police announced the arrest of three persons allegedly linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, along with detaining three minors for allegedly planning to carry out terror strikes in Delhi and Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior on Independence Day. The arrested persons have been identified as Jitendra Chaudhary, a native of Tonk, Sanjay, a native of Hanumangarh district, and Sonu alias Kali, from Kapurthala, Punjab.(AI Generated/ Representative) The arrested persons have been identified as Jitendra Chaudhary, a native of Tonk, Sanjay, a native of Hanumangarh district, and Sonu alias Kali, from Kapurthala, Punjab. According to the additional crime branch director general of police (ADGP) Dinesh MN, quoted in an Indian Express report, the three accused were arrested from Jaipur and Tonk districts last week and handed over to the Punjab Police's Amritsar Special Operation Cell. The accused were wanted in connection with a July 7 blast in Nawanshahr, Punjab. He also said that three minors were also detained during the operation. The ADGP informed that the three had thrown a grenade in front of a liquor shop in Punjab's Nawanshahr and fled to Rajasthan. The motive behind the grenade attack was to spread terror and extort money. A case was filed under Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) sections 49 (abetment outside India for offence in India), 55 (abetment of offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life), 61 (2) (Criminal conspiracy), as well as sections of the Arms Act by the Punjab police. Following the Nawanshahr blast, a team led by the additional superintendent of police (ASP), Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) Siddhant Sharma, went to Jaipur Range and Ajmer Range. 'The team concealed its identity and, without caring for their lives, worked hard to collect intelligence about the wanted and arrested them on August 10,' the ADG told the media. The connection to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang The accused were interrogated upon their arrest, and the police uncovered their alleged ties to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. According to the police, their handler is Zeeshan Akhtar, the alleged mastermind of the murder of NCP leader Baba Siddiqui in Mumbai. Zeeshan reportedly lives in Canada and was connected to the three accused through social media. ADGP Dinesh MN also said that Zeeshan Akhtar, Pakistani gangster Shahzad Bhatti, Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist Manu Agwan and Gopi Nawanshahria are all allegedly connected with each other. 'They carry out criminal activities in different parts of the country and contact local youth by luring them with money to commit the crime. The accused in the present case are connected with Zeeshan Akhtar through Instagram and other online apps. Zeeshan Akhtar had also provided grenades to the accused for the Nawanshahr blast. He used to give instructions to them through online applications. He had also instructed them to carry out blasts in Delhi and Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, on Independence Day, August 15,' the ADG said. Mumbai police had said in June that Zeeshan Akhtar had been detained in Canada. However, there has been little clarity on the case or Akhtar's whereabouts since then.


News18
5 hours ago
- News18
Gilgit-Baltistan: A New Uprising In Pakistan's ‘Last Colony' Against Oppressive Rule
Last Updated: For decades, GB has sought autonomy, political representation, and development aligned with local needs and ambitions, but has faced growing neglect and exploitation from Pakistan A fresh wave of resistance against the Pakistani state's illegal occupation of the region is being witnessed in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). The local traders and business community of GB have launched a movement to oppose trade and travel between Pakistan and China via the Khunjerab Pass. This latest protest is the outcome of the relentlessly exploitative economic and political conditions imposed on GB by the Pakistani state. The protest by the traders has come close on the heels of a mass movement by the local residents of GB against the controversial Land Reforms Act, 2025, passed on May 21. For the last four weeks, traders have been continuing with a sit-in at the Karakoram Highway, bringing the region to a standstill. They are demanding recognition of local interests by Islamabad as well as its accountability. To understand GB's tumultuous relationship with Islamabad, it is important to look at the history of this asymmetric and oppressive power dynamic, which continues to disenfranchise, marginalise, and politically erase the identity, aspirations, and future of the people of this region. According to the US-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Pakistan has treated GB more as a colony rather than as part of the federation. 'The region has long been regarded by Pakistan not as a cherished part of the federation, but as a distant and burdensome periphery. Successive governments have turned a blind eye to the fundamental needs of the humble inhabitants of Gilgit-Baltistan, relegating the region to an ad hoc governance framework administered from afar—governed not by participatory laws, but by decrees handed down from Islamabad," says a recent MEMRI report. The origins of this injustice lie in the 1949 Karachi Agreement. Under this 'agreement", the control of GB (then called Northern Areas) was transferred from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) to Islamabad without any representative from the region. Since then, Islamabad has directly ruled GB through the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs, using the draconian colonial-era Frontier Crimes Regulation. Its constitutional status remains in limbo as Pakistan has tried to use it to build another false narrative by linking it to the resolution of the Kashmir issue with India. But to deal with growing frustration among the local residents, it introduced limited self-governance reforms to the region, renaming it 'Gilgit and Baltistan' in 2009. However, this move was exposed as hollow; right from the beginning, the GB assembly was systematically populated by 'compliant figureheads or puppets, rather than leaders who dared to interpret their roles with independence and purpose," as emphasised in the MEMRI analysis. For decades, GB has sought autonomy, political representation, and development aligned with local needs and aspirations, but instead has faced growing neglect and exploitative policies from Pakistan. The Pakistani magazine Herald once described Gilgit-Baltistan as Pakistan's 'last colony", a phrase that aptly reflects Islamabad's governing attitude toward the region. Very recently, GB was engulfed in massive demonstrations against the forcibly passed Land Reforms Act, 2025. This legislation was opposed by the people, as it would enable land grabs by Punjabi landlords and the Pakistani military, displace the local population, and exploit natural resources. This law would also intensify military control. As GB is the only region under Pakistan's occupation that has a Shia and Ismaili majority, Islamabad has also undertaken a systematic campaign of altering the demography by opening up the region to outsiders. Now, fed up with increasing federal taxes and deliberate obstacles to local trade, GB traders—backed by a host of local political parties and religious groups—have sustained a resilient sit-in at Sost. This powerful show of solidarity and demand for justice compelled Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan and Governor Mehdi Shah to seek federal intervention, leading to the formation of a federal committee to make recommendations for the issue's resolution. The protestors' demands are simple: exemption from income, sales, and other federal taxes on commodities imported from China through the Khunjerab Pass—deemed illegal by traders considering GB's lack of constitutional status—and urgent customs clearance for 280 consignments stuck at Sost Dry Port under a one-time amnesty scheme. Ironically, while Gilgit-Baltistan is considered to be geographically very significant for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Islamabad's treatment of local traders sends a clear message that it is least bothered about the interests of the local population and is only interested in exploiting the strategic position and resources of the region. All routes connecting Pakistan to China, including the critical Karakoram Highway, pass through GB, which should ideally have brought more economic opportunities for the local population. However, in contrast, it has resulted in increased Chinese military presence. This reinforces the fact that Pakistan follows the template of exploiting the region while keeping the people underdeveloped. If the locals dare to express their aspirations, they are handled brutally by the Pakistani military and its death squads. Therefore, the traders' blockade in GB represents more than an economic conflict—it is the roar of a voice silenced for decades from a region long suffering under the thumb of Islamabad's colonial and oppressive policies. The writer is an author and columnist. His X handle is @ArunAnandLive. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views. Click here to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google. tags : China Kashmir pakistan view comments Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: August 16, 2025, 22:02 IST News opinion Global Watch | Gilgit-Baltistan: A New Uprising In Pakistan's 'Last Colony' Against Oppressive Rule Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. 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NDTV
8 hours ago
- NDTV
J&K Cloudburst: Explosives Used To Blast Giant Boulders To Speed Up Rescue Efforts
Kishtwar: Explosives were used to blast giant boulders hampering the ongoing rescue and relief operations in the disaster-hit Chisoti village in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district on the third day on Saturday, officials said. Army has also deployed additional troops to intensify the efforts, they said. A total of 60 persons, including three CISF personnel and a Special Police Officer, have died and 82 people were reported missing in the cloudburst and the resultant flash floods that struck the remote village in Padder sub-division on Thursday afternoon. Around 167 people have been rescued so far, some critically injured. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah visited Chisoti village on Saturday morning and announced an ex-gratia assistance from the chief minister's relief fund to the affected families as a "measure of solidarity and immediate relief". He also assured them long-term support. Union Minister Jitendra Singh, accompanied by Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat, also visited the devastated village late on Friday night and reviewed the ongoing rescue and relief efforts jointly carried out by the Police, Army, National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Border Roads Organisation, civil administration, and local volunteers. So far, 50 bodies have been identified and handed over to their next of kin after completion of legal formalities. The disaster struck Chisoti -- the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple -- at around 12.25 pm on August 14. It flattened a makeshift market, a langar (community kitchen) site prepared for the yatra, and a security outpost. At least 16 residential houses and government buildings, three temples, four water mills, a 30-metre-long bridge, and over a dozen vehicles were damaged in the flash floods which dumped giant boulders at various spots, especially around the worst-hit langar site. Racing against time since the chances of digging out the survivors alive fade with every passing hour, the rescuers expedited the operation in the evening by using explosive substances to blast the oversized boulders that could not be shifted with earth-movers or other equipment. Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, General Officer Commanding of Army's Delta Force Major General A P S Bal, and CISF Deputy Inspector General M K Yadav also visited the village, while Jammu Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar, Jammu Inspector General of Police Bhim Sen Tuti, Kishtwar Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Sharma and Kishtwar Senior Superintendent of Police Naresh Singh are camping in the area to supervise the operation. The annual Machail Mata yatra, which began on July 25 and was scheduled to conclude on September 5, remained suspended for the third consecutive day on Saturday. The 8.5-kilometre trek to the 9,500-foot-high shrine starts from Chisoti, located about 90 kilometres from Kishtwar town. Rescue efforts were intensified with the deployment of nearly a dozen earth-movers by the civil administration and the use of specialised equipment and dog squads by the National Disaster Relief Force. The chief minister, after taking first-hand stock of the devastation, announced that the families of those who lost their lives would receive financial support of Rs 2 lakh each, while those who sustained severe injuries would be given Rs 1 lakh and those with minor injuries Rs 50,000. For structural damages, he announced Rs 1 lakh for fully damaged houses, Rs 50,000 for severely damaged ones, and Rs 25,000 for partially damaged structures. The chief minister also met the bereaved families of the deceased and those affected by the tragedy. He prayed for the departed souls, and assured people that his government will extend not only immediate assistance but also long-term rehabilitation to help them rebuild their lives. Several people in Chisoti village welcomed Abdullah's visit and expressed hope that he will personally oversee their rehabilitation. "We feel relieved after the visit of the chief minister, who went door-to-door to meet victims' families and heard our genuine demands," said Rangeel Singh, a local resident. Singh also expressed disappointment over the Union minister, who visited at "the dead of the night and returned without listening to us". "We are hopeful that the chief minister will fulfil all our genuine demands, including compensation for the loss, relocation to safer places, and jobs to the next of kin of those killed in the calamity," he added.