After India’s Operation Sindoor, which targeted terror camps in Pakistan, the Indian armed forces took further action on Thursday. They destroyed Pakistan’s Chinese-made HQ-9 air defence missile system in Lahore. This system was guarding several areas in Lahore, and its destruction left the Pakistani army exposed in that region.

The action was taken after Pakistan tried to hit 15 military targets in India using drones and missiles. The areas Pakistan tried to target included Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj.

But India’s strong defence systems stopped all attacks. The Integrated Counter UAS Grid and the Russian-made S-400 air defence system successfully blocked the Pakistani drones and missiles.

"The Indian armed forces reiterate their commitment to non-escalation, provided it is respected by the Pakistani military," the government said in a statement.

Explosions and panic in Lahore

In Lahore, panic spread as loud explosions were heard near Walton Airport. People rushed out of their homes in fear. Reports from Reuters and local media showed smoke clouds rising and sirens going off. The explosions were close to Lahore’s army cantonment and the central business district.

According to reports, flight operations at Lahore, Karachi, and Sialkot airports were temporarily stopped. Pakistan claimed one drone crashed in Lahore and 12 more were taken down in other cities like Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, and Karachi. It also said four soldiers were injured in Lahore and one civilian was killed in Miano, Sindh.

India had earlier launched Operation Sindoor after the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which killed 26 people. The Indian Air Force and Army worked together to hit terror camps in nine locations inside Pakistan.

Rafale jets dropped air-to-surface missiles, and the Army launched surface-to-surface missiles. These attacks killed 80-90 terrorists linked to Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The Indian government clearly said no Pakistani military areas were hit, and care was taken to avoid civilian deaths.

However, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the strike an “act of war”. Pakistan claimed civilians, including women and children, were killed — though India has provided visual proof that terror camps were the real targets.

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