Pakistan closes airspace temporarily after India accuses it of using civilian flights as shields

New Delhi, May 10 (IANS) Pakistan on Saturday shut down its airspace temporarily, hours after India accused the former of using commercial flights as shields amid drone attacks.

The decision, notified through a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), came amid escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

The move follows a night of intense drone activity along India's northern and western borders after Pakistani drones were sighted at 26 locations ranging from Baramulla in the North to Bhuj in the South, along both the International Border and the Line of Control with Pakistan, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

These include suspected armed drones posing potential threats to civilian and military targets, the Ministry added.

The locations include Baramulla, Srinagar, Avantipora, Nagrota, Jammu, Ferozpur, Pathankot, Fazilka, Lalgarh Jatta, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bhuj, Kuarbet and Lakhi Nala.

Several of the targeted sites included key airfields, forward military bases, and civil aviation facilities. India successfully repelled each attack.

India accused Pakistan of endangering international air traffic by keeping its airspace open while executing drone and missile operations.

"Pakistan is using civil airliners as a shield, knowing fully well that its attack on India would elicit a swift air defence response. This is not safe for the unsuspecting civil airliners, including the international flights which were flying near the International Border between India and Pakistan," Colonel Sofiya Qureshi of the Army said at a press briefing on Friday, alongside Wing Commander Vyomika Singh of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.

Pakistan deployed between 300 and 400 drones, identified preliminarily as Turkish-made Asisguard Songar models, on the night of May 8 and May 9. Many were intercepted using a combination of kinetic and electronic warfare systems, including the Barak-8 and S-400 Triumph missile defence platforms, Akash SAMs, and indigenous anti-drone technologies.

"The sheer scale suggests it was a deliberate military attempt to test our readiness. We responded proportionately," Wing Commander Singh said at the briefing.

Among the locations targeted were Srinagar airport, the Awantipora airbase, Nagrota, Jammu, Pathankot, Fazilka, and Jaisalmer.

In Ferozpur, a drone attack on a civilian area injured three members of a local family. No Indian military installations were damaged.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened a high-level security review meeting late Friday night with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, and the service chiefs.

Earlier on Friday, PM Modi also met former Chiefs of the armed forces to take their views on the evolving crisis.

Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the civil preparedness in states along the Pakistan border, particularly around airports and high-value targets.

--IANS

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