Sirens blared across parts of Lahore, Pakistan, on Thursday, May 8, as a series of loud explosions rocked the city, prompting residents to flee their homes in panic.
According to Reuters, local media reports, and social media posts, the blasts were heard in the Gopal Nagar and Naseerabad areas, near Walton Airport.
Utter chaos in Lahore after drone strike at Walton Road which leads to Lahore cantonment. People out on streets in panic. Asim Munir's Jihadist policies have invited war to Pakistan's streets. pic.twitter.com/1195BQxlhf
— Divya Kumar Soti (@DivyaSoti) May 8, 2025
The incident occurred just a day after India launched Operation Sindoor, a joint military strike — conducted by Indian Army and the Indian Air Force — on terror camps across Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives on April 22.
Visuals, which have now gone viral on social media, showed people running out of their homes, with smoke rising in the background. The affected areas are located close to Lahore’s central business district and the army cantonment. Following the explosions, flight operations at major airports in Sialkot, Karachi, and Lahore were temporarily suspended.
Police sources told Samaa TV that a drone, measuring approximately 5 to 6 feet, may have caused the blast. The drone was reportedly neutralised through jamming technology. So far, no casualties or damage to civilian infrastructure have been reported.
Three blasts reported near #Lahore Walton Airport! Panic erupts in 🇵🇰.
— Fatima Dar (@FatimaDar_jk) May 8, 2025
Pakistan would have never thought the repercussions of #PahalgamTerroristAttack would be so severe! Pák Army & their terrór proxies must be repenting right now!#OperationSindoor#IndiaPakistanWar pic.twitter.com/xFg2b4yYEP
Operation Sindoor, conducted on Wednesday, involved coordinated strikes by the Indian Army and Air Force. Rafale jets carried out precision air-to-surface missile attacks, while the Army launched surface-to-surface missiles at nine identified terror camps linked to Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Sources said the strikes killed between 80 to 90 terrorists. The Indian government clarified that no Pakistani military facilities were targeted and that all efforts were made to avoid civilian harm.
Reacting to the operation, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called it an “act of war” by India. Despite India providing visual proof of targeting terror infrastructure, Pakistan claimed civilian casualties, including women and children. In retaliation, Pakistani forces opened artillery fire along the Line of Control in the Poonch-Rajouri sector, killing 15 civilians.
