PM Modi chairs security meet as India-Pak conflict enters fourth day

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday chaired a meeting with top officials to review developments along the western border, hours after the Indian Air Force (IAF) struck eight military sites in Pakistan—including radar units and ammunition dumps—using air-launched precision weapons.

The meeting was attended by defence minister Rajnath Singh, national security adviser Ajit Doval, chief of defence staff General Anil Chauhan and the three service chief officials. Earlier, Chauhan had briefed Singh on the security situation. India’s military strikes early on Saturday were in response to the neighbouring military’s strikes on India’s military infrastructure and civilian areas using fighter jets, unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), and missiles. Modi had met the top officials on Friday too to review how Operation Sindoor --- India’s direct military response to the April 22Pahalgam terror strike --- was unfolding. Saturday’s night-long developments marked the fiercest clash between the two militaries since India launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of May 7 when the Indian armed forces conducted strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The IAF carried out precision strikes only on identified military targets in Rafiqui, Murid, Chaklala, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur, Chunian, Pasrur, and Sialkot, as tensions between the two countries escalated following Pakistan’s latest strikes. The targets hit by India included technical infrastructure, command and control centres, radar sites, and weapon storage areas, an official said. The Pakistani forces attempted multiple air intrusions using drones along the Line of Control (LoC) and fired heavy-calibre artillery guns at civilian infrastructure that killed some civilians. They also targeted a raft of air bases in Punjab with missiles, attacked IAF stations at Udhampur, Pathankot, Adampur and Bhuj, and struck medicare centres and schools at three air bases in Jammu and Kashmir. Heavy exchange of artillery, mortar and small-arms fire in Kupwara, Baramulla, Poonch, Rajouri and Akhnoor sectors continued too. They also launched multiple Byker YIHA III kamikaze drones across the international border (IB) towards Amritsar.

The Indian Army’s air defence network detected, tracked and neutralised the drones. Quick reaction air defence guns were used to shoot down the drones. The Indian Army response caused extensive damage to Pakistan Army, On Friday, India hit back at Pakistan after Pakistani armed drone strikes at 26 locations in J&K, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Gujarat. Drones were sighted across a wide arc of locations — ranging from Baramulla and Srinagar in the north to Bhuj in the west — along both the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC). They had also targeted 36 locations inside India on Friday with 300 to 400 Turkish-origin armed drones and used civilian airliners as a shield to attack military sites, prompting New Delhi to strike Islamabad’s air defence systems at four places.