10052025-TT-01.qxd 5/9/2025 27 NATIONS JOIN PUTIN FOR VICTORY DAY WORLD /thetribunechd 11:36 PM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 145 NO. 128 | 20 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  HIMACHAL PRADESH NO ROLE IN INDUS TREATY: WORLD BANK BACK PAGE saturday | 10 may 2025 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Multiple Pak drone attacks thwarted in J&K, Punjab Come as MEA says Pak targeted 36 sites with 400 UAVs, used civil flights as shield Slams it for launching strikes on places of worship, blaming Indian armed forces Vijay Mohan & Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service Chandigarh/new delhi, May 9 Hours after India announced that Pakistan had launched nearly 400 Turkish drones at 36 locations across northern and western India, and fired artillery guns, resulting in the death of “some” soldiers over the past 24 hours, a fresh round of UAV attacks was reported from several places in northwest India, including J&K and Punjab, leaving at least three injured. The areas targeted included Jammu, Samba, Pathankot, Udhampur, Nagrota, Awantipora, Amritsar, Ferozepur, Fazilka and Jaisalmer on Friday evening. Explosions were also heard in some parts of Kashmir and Pokhran in Rajasthan, a desert region where India had conducted nuclear tests. Drone attacks on the Srinagar airport and south Kashmir’s Awantipora air base were thwarted, officials said. Along the LoC, several ceasefire violations by the Pakistan army were reported. The Army said these threats were being responded to effectively. Residents in these places reported seeing swarms of drones hovering overhead and in some cases hearing the sound of explosions as well as anti-aircraft guns. Blackouts were enforced in many districts in north-west India as a precautionary measure and air Pakistani drones that were neutralised in Bathinda on Thursday night. PTI raid warning sirens sounded at several places during the day. In Amritsar, multiple drones were spotted in the Chheharta area and the road leading to the airport. In Ferozepur, where several drones were sighted, three persons were injured in a blast that hit their house at Khai Pheme Ke, the cause of which is not clear. They were admitted to a local hospital. Earlier, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, at a briefing in New Delhi on the ongoing Operation Sindoor, said the armed forces responded “proportionately and adequately” to the aggression last night. He slammed Pakistan for “using civilian planes as shields” to fly close to the International Border and assailed it for attacking places of worship and its “preposterous” attempts to put the blame on the armed forces. Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, speaking at the briefing, said India retaliated by launching armed drones at four air defence (AD) sites in Pakistan and “one of these destroyed an AD radar”. “Pakistan also carried out firing across the Line of Control (LoC) using large-calibre artillery guns and armed drones directed at Tangdhar, Uri, Poonch, Mendhar, Rajouri, Akhnoor and Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir, resulting in some losses and injuries to Army personnel. The Pakistan army suffered major losses in retaliatory fire,” she said. The officer said that a possible purpose of the largescale aerial intrusions drones by Pakistan, using Turkish Songar drones, many of which were shot down, was to test the AD systems, gather intelligence and also to target military infrastructure. Col Sofiya Qureshi flagged Islamabad’s “irresponsible” behaviour for using civil airlines as shields, knowing fully well that any attack on India would elicit a swift AD response. “This is not safe for the unsuspecting civil airliners, including international flights, which were flying near borders between India and Pakistan,” she said. Kartarpur corridor closed indefinitely NEW DELHI: Amid the escalation of tensions with Pakistan, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Friday said the services at the Kartarpur Sahib corridor had been suspended until further notice. The 4.7-km-long corridor connects Indian border in Gurdaspur with Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan. No civilian flights at 24airportstillMay15 NEW DELHI: At least 24 airports in northern and western parts of the country, including Srinagar and Chandigarh, have been shut for civilian flights till May 15, sources said. Earlier, these airports were closed for civilian flights till May 10 in view of the conflict between India and Pakistan. SirensinChandigarh, blackout in Ambala CHANDIGARH: The Chandigarh administration sounded an air raid siren appealing to people to remain indoors after receiving a warning from the Air Force station of a possible attack. The administration in Ambala, a key Air Force base, ordered a complete blackout during the night hours. BSF kills seven terrorists after foiling major infiltration bid in Samba, damages Pak post Arjun Sharma & Vijay Mohan Tribune News Service Jammu/Chandigarh, May 9 The Border Security Force killed at least seven terrorists after foiling a major infiltration attempt along the International Border in the Samba sector of Jammu. “On the intervening night of May 8-9, an infiltration attempt by a large group of terrorists was detected by the surveillance grid in the Samba sector,” a BSF spokesperson said. The total number of terrorists trying to infiltrate was not known. “The infiltration bid was supported by fire from the Dhandhar post of Pakistan Rangers,” the BSF said. It also released a video showing the terrorists being eliminated in pitch dark. The group was heavily armed and would have been detrimental to the security in the region, it said. Union Minister Jitendra Singh, an MP from Udhampur in J&K, said in a post on X that the Dhandhar post suffered extensive damage A man searches for his belongings in Uri after his house was damaged in Pakistan shelling. PTI 2 CIVILIANS KILLED, FIVE INJURED IN HEAVY SHELLING BY PAK Two persons were killed in shelling by Pakistan in the forward areas of J&K, prompting Army troops to retaliate. One person was killed and three othas Indian retaliated. The attempt to push in terrorists coincided with the drone and missile attacks by the Pakistani side on military and other vital installations in Jammu and other regions. ers, including his wife, injured in Poonch. A woman was killed and two of her family members injured near the LoC in the Uri sector of north Kashmir. The Samba sector, south of Jammu, has been witnessing heavy cross-border firing since India announced retribution for the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 persons on April 22 as well as drone incursions over the past days. Several terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir were hit by India under Operation Sindoor. Located close to the international border, continued on page 8 BSF on alert along Bangla border to counter ISI threat Ample fuel stock, mustn’t indulge in panic buying or hoarding, says IOC Animesh Singh Tribune News Service Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 9 With Pakistan in a retaliatory mode against India along the western front in the aftermath of New Delhi’s offensive under Operation Sindoor, the BSF is maintaining high vigil along the eastern front, with intelligence inputs available that ISI operatives have been making efforts for quite some time to re-establish training camps of extremist organisation United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) in Bangladesh. continued on page 8 New Delhi, May 9 With rapidly escalating hostilities between India and Pakistan, the country’s largest fuel retailer, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), on Friday assured citizens that ample fuel stocks are available across the country. The company urged people to avoid panic buying and hoarding of fuel such as petrol, diesel and cooking gas. The advisory followed reports of people resorting to panic buying of essential items and fuels over the past three days, primarily due to ATMS WELL-STOCKED Dismissing rumours, public sector banks, including the State Bank of India, said their ATMs were fully functional and wellstocked and that digital services were operating smoothly. GOVT WARNS TRADERS The country has ample food stocks to meet demand, the government said, warning traders against hoarding of food items and creating artificial shortage. viral social media messages that the government has dismissed as fake. On May 8, PM Narendra Modi, in a meeting with secretaries, stressed the need for seamless coordination among ministries and agencies to ensure operational continuity and institutional resilience. In a post on X, the IOC said, “We have ample fuel stocks across the country and our supply lines are operating smoothly. There is no need for panic buying. Help us serve you better by staying calm and avoiding unnecessary rush. This will keep our supply lines running seamlessly and ensure uninterrupted fuel access for all.” Industry sources said the fuel supplies remained normal continued on page 8 c m y b Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, NSA Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi and IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh at a meeting on the security situation in New Delhi on Friday. PTI Chief of Staff given powers to mobilise Territorial Army Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 9 In view of the rising hostilities with Pakistan, the Army Chief has been empowered to muster the Territorial Army, a reserve force, while Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today chaired a high-level meeting with the top brass of the military to review the security situation along the western border and the operational preparedness of the armed forces. The minister’s review meeting comes in the backdrop of the layered Indian air defence mechanism having stalled Pakistan’s barrage of missiles PM REVIEWS SECURITY WITH DEFENCE BRASS PM Narendra Modi held a security review meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, NSA Ajit Doval, CDS Gen Anil Chauhan and the chiefs of the Army, Air Force and the Navy at his residence. and drones. Last night, Pakistan launched these all across the western front, threatening the Indian military and civilian infrastructure. The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Anil Chauhan, the Army Chief, Gen Upendra Dwivedi, the Navy Chief, Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, the IAF Chief, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, and the Defence Secretary, Rajesh Kumar Singh, were present at the meeting. The Defence Ministry, exercising powers under the Territorial Army Rule, 1948, issued a notification saying the Army Chief can “call out every officer and every enrolled person of the Territorial Army to provide for essential guard or to be embodied for the purpose of supporting or supplementing the regular Army”. Of the existing 32 Infantry Battalions of the Territorial Army, the Army Chief has been continued on page 8