Srinagar, May 10 – At least five people have been killed in fresh cross-border shelling along the Line of Control (Loc) in Kashmir region as tensions continue to rise between India and Pakistan following the deadly Pahalgam attack.
The deceased include Rajouri district commissioner Raj Kumar Thappa, who reportedly died when a shell hit his residence; two more civilians, including a two-year-old child, in Rajouri town; a 55-year-old woman in Kanghra-Galhutta village of Poonch district; and one person in Bidipur Jatta village in the R S Pura sector of Jammu district. Three others were reportedly injured.
The Indian military said that on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday, drones were sighted at 26 locations across the Indian side of Kashmir and the northern state of Punjab, and were being “tracked and engaged.”
For the second consecutive night, residents reported hearing air raid sirens and explosions, with some describing red-colored trails or coils visible in the night sky.
These accounts may also be influenced by fear or misinformation, especially as some Indian media outlets — particularly television channels — have broadcated unrelated footage, including videos of Israel’s Iron Dome system, and claimed it was from Jammu or Rajasthan.
Several local news agencies also shared these videos, which have since been widely circulated across social media platforms.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Civil Aviation in India has issued NOTAMs (Notices to Airmen), temporarily closing 32 airports in the north and west of the country – including those in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, and Jammu and Kashmir – for civilian air traffic from May 9 to 14.
Moreover, Pakistan’s military has announced the launch of a counteroffensive operation, codenamed Bunyan Marsoos, which it says has targeted military sites after the morning prayer (Fajr) inside India and Indian-controlled Kashmir. No independent verification of the operation’s scope or impact is yet available.
Pakistan’s state-run PTV News also reports that a coordinated cyberattack has disrupted several Indian websites — including those linked to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the Border Security Force, and the Crime Research Investigation Agency — as part of the ‘Bunyan Marsoos operation.’
Given the long-standing and deeply sensitive nature of the India-Pakistan conflict over Kashmir, both countries have a history of issuing conflicting statements during times of heightened military activity.
At this time, many of the official claims remain difficult to independently verify amid widespread panic among residents.