By A Correspondent

(ADDS: India Ministry of External Affairs briefing video at 5:30 pm on May 8, 2025)

New Delhi: India on May 8, 2025, successfully defended its 15 border towns using its Russian-origin S-400 and indigenous Akash air defence missiles, as Pakistan targeted them with missiles.

A day before, India had hit nine terror infrastructure targets inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir locations to avenge the dastardly killing of 26 civilians in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir.

In response to Operation Sindoor, the Pakistan Army launched a barrage of heavy artillery and mortar fire on Indian towns, attempting to engage military establishments in the northern and western parts of India.

The Indian cities targeted by Pakistan were Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj. Pakistan used its drones and missiles, according to a statement by India’s Ministry of Defence on May 8, 2025.

“These were neutralised by the Integrated Counter UAS Grid and Air Defence Systems. The debris of these attacks is now being recovered from several locations that prove the Pakistani attacks,” it said.

India responded to these Pakistan military provocations on May 8, 2025, morning. Indian armed forces targeted Air Defence Radars and Systems at several locations inside Pakistan.

The Indian response has been in the same domain with the same intensity as Pakistan. “It has been reliably learnt that an Air Defence system at Lahore has been neutralised.”

India said Pakistan has increased the intensity of its unprovoked firing across the Line of Control using Mortars and heavy-calibre artillery in areas in Kupwara, Baramulla, Uri, Poonch, Mendhar, and Rajouri sectors in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Sixteen innocent lives have been lost, including three women and five children, due to Pakistani firing. Here too, India was compelled to respond to bring mortar and artillery fire from Pakistan to a halt.”

India warned that the Indian armed forces were committed to non-escalation, but the caveat is that the Pakistan military must respect the Indian restraint first.

During the press briefing on Operation SINDOOR on May 7, 2025, India called its response to the Pahalgam terror attack by The Resistance Force as “focused, measured, and non-escalatory.”

It was specifically mentioned that Pakistani military establishments were not targeted by the Indian army and air force’s punitive actions. India had also warned that any Pakistani attack on military targets in India would invite a suitable response.

At a special briefing by India’s Ministry of External Affairs on May 8, 2025, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said Pakistan’s notoriety as the epicentre of terror globally is rooted in it being the haven for several dangerous terrorists, including Osama bin Laden.

“Pakistan is also home to a large number of UN-proscribed and globally-proscribed terrorists, including Lashkar-e-Taiba’s Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammed’s Maulana Masood Azhar,” Misri said.

(This is developing news. The report will be updated.)

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