Twenty-seven airports in north, west and central India have been closed for commercial flights, for now till 5.29am Saturday (May 10). Airports that have been closed are Srinagar, Jammu, Leh, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Bathinda, Halwara, Pathankot, huntar, Shimla, Gaggal, Dharamsala, Kishangarh, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Mundra, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Porbandar, Kandla, Keshod, Bhuj, Gwalior, and Hindon. These airports handle military operations too.
Indian carriers cancelled a total of 430 flights for Thursday, which was 3% of the country’s total scheduled flights, while Pakistan carriers cancelled 147 flights, 17% of its total scheduled flights. Airspace over Pakistan and the western shoulder of India between Kashmir and Gujarat was free of civilian air traffic as airlines shunned the sensitive zone, showed Flightradar24, which also shared the flight cancellation data. Most foreign carriers stopped using Pakistani airspace, re-routing flights over Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
Meanwhile in Pakistan, flight operations in Karachi, Lahore and Sialkot have been temporarily suspended, Reuters reports, citing Pakistan Airports Authority.
The Indian armed forces on Wednesday launched precision strikes on terrorist infrastructures at nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people on April 22. The mission, codenamed Operation Sindoor, lasted from 1.04am to 1.30am. Foreign secretary Vikram Misri, along with Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, addressed a briefing on Operation Sindoor.
Misri said it was essential to bring to justice the perpetrators and planners of the Pahalgam attack as there was “no demonstrable step” from Pakistan to act against terrorist infrastructure on territories controlled by it, even after a fortnight.
The nine terror camps targeted by Indian armed forces were in Muzaffarabad’s Sawai Nala Camp and Syedna Belal Camp, Gulpur Camp, Abbas Camp, Barnala Camp, Sarjal Camp, Mehmoona Joya Camp, Markaz Taiba and Markaz Subhan in Bahawalpur.
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