Indian border cities sound blackout sirens

Pakistan's information minister said the country's defense forces have not targeted any locations across the international border into Indian-administered Kashmir. 

"Indian media is always spreading disinformation either to create to craft a (fake) notion of success before publicly accepting their embarrassing losses during their unprovoked aggression on night of 6/7 May 2025. We have only given defensive response so far! International community may take note," Pakistan's Attaullah Tarar said on X. 

This comes as several Indian cities with proximity to Pakistan remain under blackout and as locals report missiles and drones in the sky. The Indian government has claimed that three military bases were targeted on Thursday evening.

In another tweet, Tarar responded to a piece of unconfirmed news in Indian media that claimed two Pakistani fighter jets had been downed. 

"Absurd and false claims being made by India about shooting down an F16 and JF17 fighter jets. Fake and concocted stories will get you nowhere. Such false claims only reflect your desperation. Denied and rejected," the post said.

Military stations of Jammu Pathankot and Udhampur — regions close to the international boundary in Jammu & Kashmir — have been targeted by Pakistan using drones and missile systems, the headquarters of India's Integrated Defence Staff said. 

"No losses. Threat neutralised by Indian Armed Forces as per SoP with kinetic & non-kinetic means," their social media handle on X said. 

Meanwhile, Pakistan's state media claimed the latest round of attacks was "imaginary" and intended to "create a pretext for the next aggression against Pakistan." Pakistani officials are yet to give an official statement. 

Jammu, a city in the Indian-administered region of Jammu & Kashmir, witnessed a complete blackout with locals reporting missile streaks in the night sky.

Videos of light streaks in the sky filled social media platforms while Indian media channels reported locals having heard loud sirens and possible explosions.

Mehbooba Mufti, an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir, wrote on X: "Deeply disturbing reports are emerging from Jammu, where air strikes have reportedly hit certain areas."

The Indian Express reported that the airport in Jammu was targeted and that officials indicated that missile interception systems had been activated.

Other northern cities in India, such as Chandigarh, which houses a key air force base, Srinagar which is a city in Indian-administered Kashmir, and the border town of Gurdaspur were also under blackout according to local sources. 

A Reuters journalist reported similar visuals from Jammu. The Canada-based news agency cited an unnamed Indian security official saying:  “Our army installations are under attack, it is happening in five districts of Jammu (region).”

A different source in the Indian military claimed that eight missiles, fired from Pakistan at the Jammu region towns of Satwari, Samba, Ranbir Singh Pura and Arnia, were all intercepted by air defence units, as per the report. He said the missiles were part of a wider attack.

Pakistan's military or government is yet to release an officials statement.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a phone call with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif earlier on Thursday, according to Sharif's office.

"Secretary Rubio noted that the US was closely following the situation in South Asia as it was committed to promoting peace and stability in the region," the prime minister's office said in a statement that was carried by Pakistani state broadcaster PTV News. "To this end, he emphasized upon the need for both Pakistan and India to work closely to deescalate the situation."

During the call, Sharif also noted how people in Pakistan were "outraged" by India's airstrikes and underscored Pakistan's "right to act in self-defense."

Multiple blasts were heard in the Indian-administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir late on Thursday.

The explosions were reported by multiple news agencies, including Reuters, AFP and the Associated Press. Air raid sirens also sounded.

Reuters reported that what was likely a drone attack launched from Pakistan struck near Jammu Airport, citing military sources.

AFP also said explosions occurred at an airport in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir, citing security sources.

The news came after India and Pakistan accused each other Thursday of carrying out waves of drone attacks.

Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has defended strikes against Pakistan overnight.

"Our intention has not been to escalate matters, we are responding only to the original escalation. Our response has been targeted, precise, controlled and measured," he said at a press conference.

Misri denied Pakistani claims that Indian strikes hit a key dam in Kashmir.

"If this kind of claim is a pretext for targeting infrastructure of a similar nature, Pakistan will be entirely responsible for the consequences that will undoubtedly follow," he added.

Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said Pakistan will likely retaliate for recent Indian drone strikes.

A Pakistan attack on India "is increasingly becoming certain now," Asif said in an interview with Reuters news agency.

"I will still refrain from saying it is 100%. But the situation has become very difficult. We have to respond," he added.

India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has told streaming platforms to take down Pakistani films, songs, podcasts and other online content.

"In the interest of national security, all ... media streaming platforms and intermediaries operating in India are advised to discontinue the web-series, films, songs, podcasts and other streaming media content, whether made available on a subscription base model or otherwise, having its origins in Pakistan with immediate effect," the ministry said in a memo.

Viral social media posts claim to show India's attacks on Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. But some videos are used out of context and are seemingly aimed at stoking tensions even further.

DW's fact-checking team had a look at some of the viral videos doing the rounds in the context of the escalation between India and Pakistan.

Read DW's full report here.

India said it targeted a Pakistani air defense system located in the city of Lahore in retaliation to Pakistan's attacks using "drones and missiles" which took place overnight, attacks which it said were "neutralized."

"It has been reliably learnt that an air-defence system at Lahore has been neutralized," the Indian government statement said.

Pakistan said the Indian army had fired several Israeli-made drones into the country, both overnight and on Thursday.

Pakistan also said it had intercepted 25 of the drones, with other drones getting through the air defenses and resulting in one civilian killed and several injured soldiers.

The US Consulate General in Lahore told staff to shelter in place following the reports of drone strikes in the Pakistani city, the US State Department said.

Pakistan said it shot down 25 drones shot by India overnight, with one civilian being killed and multiple soldiers being wounded as a result of one of the drones. 

According to Pakistan's military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the attack was "another act of aggression" by India.

The country's civil aviation authority said three of the country's airports will remain closed until 18:00 local time (1300 GMT). That included the airport for the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

The airports in Karachi and Lahore will also be shut until the early evening.

Commercial airlines canceled or rerouted flights after India struck nine sites in Pakistan. Among the affected airlines are United Airlines and Korean Air.

Furthermore, some dozen Indian airports were shut as a result of the escalation in the contested Kashmir region.

Flight tracking websites showed many airlines flying over Oman, UAE and Kuwait in light of the attack.

Authorities in Pakistan say 57 international flights were in the country's airspace as India shot missiles in its direction.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's office said India's missiles "caused grave danger to commercial airlines" and "endangered lives."

India says the nine sites include "terrorist infrastructure," claims Pakistan denies.

The Indian army said its soldiers exchanged fire with the Pakistani army overnight along the de facto border in Kashmir.

Small arms and artillery fire were both in use. 

This comes as the two neighboring countries saw their worst violence in two decades after India launched missile strikes on Pakistan.

At least 43 deaths have been reported by both countries since the military escalation between them on Wednesday, with Islamabad saying that 31 civilians had been killed by India's missiles and New Delhi reporting 13 casualties.

An Instagram account with the handle @Muslim has been blocked in India at the request of the local authorities, its owners say.

Users in India trying to access the account, which has some 6.7 million followers, report receiving a message that the account is not available in the country "in compliance with a legal request to restrict this content."

Ameer Al-Khatahtbeh, the account's founder and editor-in-chief, called the move "censorship."

The accounts of prominent Pakistani actors and cricketers have also been blocked in India.

Meta declined to comment, with the company's spokesperson referring news agency AFP to the tech giant's policy for restricting content when governments believe it is "against local law."

In a nationally televised address on Wednesday night, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif framed India's overnight attack as "cowardly."

He said India, "will now have to pay the price."

Earlier Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told broadcaster Geo News that Islamabad would only strike Indian military targets and not civilians, in retaliation.

Prime Minister said India thought Pakistan would step back, "but they forgot that...this is a nation of brave people."