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New Delhi:
Pakistan fired 300 to 400 Turkish drones in late Thursday night attacks on Indian military installations in or near 36 towns or cities across Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, and Punjab – from Srinagar to Jaisalmer, and Pathankot – Colonel Sofiya Qureshi said in Friday evening press briefing.
Pak drones were also sighted at the Siachen glacier base camp in Ladakh and in the Kutch area in Gujarat; the two are nearly 1,400km apart, which underlines the vast spread of the attack.
Fifty of the drones were shot down by air defence guns, Col Qureshi said.
Another 20 were neutralised by jamming radio frequencies.
Most of the drones were unarmed, suggesting Pak may have tested India’s defences. Many, however, fitted with cameras that may have relayed footage to grounds stations in Pakistan.
Sources said Pak used Asiguard SONGAR drones that, according to the manufacturer, can be used “effectively in any kind of day/night military and security operations” and has a range of 5km.
Debris from a Pakistani missile fell near a village in Punjab.
The firing of hundreds of drones – all of which were intercepted or neutralised by India’s air defence system – was a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement, Col Qureshi said.
This, she said, included continuing small arms fire and artillery shelling across the Line of Control, or LoC, in Jammu and Kashmir, in which 16 Indians, including a soldier, were killed.
In response, Indian military inflicted ‘heavy damage’ on its counterpart, Col Qureshi said, having shot down the hundreds of drones and missiles, and also countered by disabling Pak air defence networks.
READ | How Indian Defences Protected Nation, Shot Down Pak Missiles, Drones
Debris from downed drones and missiles, Col Qureshi said, will be analysed and the results added to the pile of evidence linking Pak, or its Pak deep state, to terrorist attacks on India.
Some of this debris was found in Punjab’s Amritsar.
VIDEO | Part Of Pak Missile Lands In Amritsar After India Intercepts Night Attack
The briefing Friday evening followed government sources telling NDTV the efficiency with which the Air Force shot down and neutralised Pak’s attacks underlines India’s aerial dominance.
India, the sources said, ‘is not just capable of defending its skies… it now controls them’.
READ | India’s ‘We Control Our Skies’ Message After Shooting Pak Missiles
The first wave of Pak’s drone and missiles attack began late May 7 night.
This was hours after Operation Sindoor – a precision strike that destroyed nine terror camps in Pak and Pak-occupied Kashmir, and did not target any rival military installation.
Pak responded with a barrage of missiles targeting Indian military facilities, but a combination of air defences, including India’s integrated counter-unmanned aerial system, or C-UAS, intercepted them.
The second wave was launched hours later.
But, once again, Indian air defences – this time using the indigenously developed Akash missile defence system, which is comparable to Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ – repulsed the attack.
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