The Indian government on Friday confirmed that Pakistan fired 300 to 400 drones towards 36 Indian urban centres during the May 8 attack amid escalated tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Colonel Sofiya Qureshi told media during a press briefing: “Around 300 to 400 drones were used to attempt infiltration at 36 locations.”
She said an initial investigation showed Pakistan used Turkish Asisguard Songar drones during the attack.
“A forensic probe of the wreckage of the dornes are currently underway,” she said.
Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said Pakistan is using the civil airliner as a shield despite knowing that by attacking across the border, it would elicit a swift air defence response.
“Pakistan is using civil airliner 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 IB between India and Pakistan,” she said.
Drone And Missile Attacks
Two weeks after the attack took place in the popular tourist destination in Jammu and Kashmir, India launched Operation Sindoor, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
India Armed Forces on Thursday neutralised missiles and drones shot by Pakistan, targeting multiple cities in India, which included Amritsar, Jammu, Pathankot, among others.
The Indian Army earlier said in a statement: “On the night of 07-08 May 2025, Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets in Northern and Western India including Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj, using drones and missiles.”
“These were neutralised by the Integrated Counter UAS Grid and Air Defence systems. The debris of these attacks is now being recovered from a number of locations that prove the Pakistani attacks,” the statement said.
The Indian Ministry of Defence said the Indian Armed Forces targeted Air Defence Radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan.
“Indian response has been in the same domain with same intensity as Pakistan. It has been reliably learnt that an Air Defence system at Lahore has been neutralised,” the statement said.
The Indian Armed Forces foiled a major infiltration bid at the international border in Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba district and killed at least seven terrorists on Friday.
The infiltration bid was foiled on the intervening night of May 8 and 9.
