Pakistan’s armed forces have taken down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones sent into the country by India since last night, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Thursday.
A day earlier, Pakistan mourned the loss of 31 lives in overnight attacks by Indian forces on civilians, describing New Delhi’s actions as “terrorism” and accusing it of continuous ceasefire violations on the Line of Control (LoC).
The Pakistan military termed the downing of five Indian fighter jets as a major victory — and it was seemingly acknowledged when Indian officials admitted that at least three of their aircraft had “crashed” within their territory.
On Wednesday, as both countries continued to trade heavy artillery fire, authorities revealed the extent of the damage caused by Indian strikes at six locations — Ahmedpur East, Muridke, Sialkot and Shakkargarh in Punjab and Muzaffarabad and Kotli in Azad Kashmir.
“The Pakistan Army, using their soft-kill (technical) and hard-kill (weapons) skills fully, have shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones,” the ISPR said in a press release today.
Referring to Pakistan’s response to Indian strikes, the ISPR press release said: “After the destruction of its five modern jets, drones and several posts, as well as soldier deaths, India is attacking Pakistan using these Israeli-made Harop drones in panic.”
“This cowardly attack is a sign of India’s worry and panic,” the statement added.
“The debris of these Israeli-made Harop drones is being collected from various locations across Pakistan,” the military’s media wing said. It asserted that the Pakistan Army was “giving a befitting reply to the enemy and crushing all its nefarious designs”.
Meanwhile, the Indian defence ministry admitted that its armed forces targeted a number of locations in Pakistan in the morning today. Indian outlet ANI News reported that Harpy drones were used by the Indian military to target Pakistan’s “air defence system”. According to the Database of Israeli Military and Security Export, the Harop is a “later development of the Harpy”.
The ministry’s statement also alleged that Pakistan had “increased the intensity” of firing at the LoC, where the two countries’ troops have been exchanging fire for the past several days.
“The Harpy is designed to attack radar systems and is optimised for the suppression of enemy air defences (Sead) role. It carries a high explosive warhead,” the ANI report read.
In a press briefing early today, ISPR Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said Pakistan’s forces had neutralised 12 drones sent by India since last night. He also stated that four army personnel were injured as one drone, besides those downed, managed to engage a military target partially.
The ISPR DG detailed the locations where 12 of those drones sent by India were neutralised — Lahore, Attock, Gujranwala, Chakwal, Rawalpindi and Bahawalpur in Punjab, as well as Sukkur’s Miano, Umerkot’s Chhor and near Karachi in Sindh.
“Other than these 12, one drone, however, managed to engage a military target near Lahore partially,” Lt Gen Chaudhry said.
“Four men of the Pakistan Army have been injured in this attack near Lahore and partial damage to an equipment has occurred,” he said.
The DG ISPR further said that as a result of India’s drone activity, one civilian embraced martyrdom and another was injured in Miano.
During the press briefing, the military’s media spokesman also showed a series of pictures showing the debris of the drones. He added that the debris and downed drones were being collected from multiple locations.
“As we speak, the process of India sending across these Harop drones, this naked aggression continues, and the armed forces are on high degree of alert and neutralising them as we speak,” he continued.
“This is a serious, serious provocation,” the DG ISPR said.
“The Indians have resorted to these measures after] having miserably failed on the night of May 6 and 7, when they attacked places of worship and civilian infrastructure and killed innocent civilians, including children, women and [the] elderly,” he continued.
He further said: “Not only that, having faced the destruction of five of their aircraft, multiple drones, and suffering heavy casualties along LoC and damage, it appears that India has apparently lost the plot.
“And rather than going on a path of rationality, it is further escalating in a highly charged environment to satisfy the hubristic mindset of the Indian government,” Lt Gen Chaudhry asserted.
“The international community can visibly see the path that India is treading through this extremely provocative military aggression in a region, which is highly fragile and putting the security of the region and beyond at risk,” he said.
The DG ISPR added that the Pakistan armed forces remain “fully vigilant to any type of threat”. He then repeated the details of the Indian drones downed in Urdu.
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