Ongoing cross-LoC firing hotspots ignited tensions along the LoC on Thursday as the 14th consecutive day of Pakistani shelling witnessed the latest firing resulting in 15 deaths along with a soldier, with over 40 injured.
In a press statement released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), it was confirmed that overnight on May 7–8, 2025, Pakistan Army troops indiscriminately initiated unprovoked firing with small arms and mortars across the LoC areas opposite Kupwara, Baramulla, Uri, and Akhnoor in the Jammu and Kashmir region.
"The Indian Army reacted in proportion," read the MoD statement.
Condolences streamed in for the martyred soldier, Lance Naik Dinesh Kumar of the 5 Field Regiment, who was martyred in the exchange. On X, the White Knight Corps, headquartered in Nagrota, tweeted, "GOC and all ranks of #WhiteKnightCorps salute the supreme sacrifice of L/Nk Dinesh Kumar… We also stand in solidarity with all victims of the targeted attacks on innocent civilians in #Poonch Sector."
Amid the escalating violence, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has started relocating people from border villages open to the firing to safe locations. Hospitals in Poonch and Baramulla districts are filled with casualties, prompting emergency arrangements at Jammu's Government Medical College Hospital for specialized treatment.
In precautionary, authorities have closed down all schools and colleges in all the following districts: Jammu, Poonch, Rajouri, Samba, Kathua, Baramulla, Kupwara, and Gurez. The Indian Air Force has taken over the operations of Srinagar Airport, and all civil flights have been suspended until May 10.
These incidents follow a series of Indian military missile strikes on May 7, aimed at nine known terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The strikes, the MoD says, were against Shawai Nallah Camp and Syedna Bilal Camp in Muzaffarabad (PoK); Muridke and Bahawalpur (Pakistan); Sarjal and Mehmoona Joya Camps in Sialkot (Pakistan); Markaz Ahle Hadith in Barnala (PoK); Markaz Abbas and Maskar Raheel Shahid Gulpur Camp in Kotli (PoK).
Indian officials emphasized that these operations did not penetrate any Pakistani military positions and were conducted in non-escalatory manner without crossing the LoC.
The armed forces were given full operation independence by Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the terror attack on Pahalgam on April 22, in which 26 civilians—25 tourists and one resident—lost their lives. The attack by Pakistan-backed Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists outraged the country.
In his initial response, Prime Minister Modi promised retribution: "The terrorists, their masters and patrons would be hunted down and traced to the very ends of the earth."
India subsequently announced a wave of retaliatory diplomatic and strategic action against Pakistan. These include deporting Pakistani nationals from India, shutting the Attari-Wagah border, withholding the Indus Water Treaty, shutting down airspace to Pakistani flights, and suspending all bilateral trade and cultural relations. India also closed the Kartarpur Corridor gateway along the Punjab border on Wednesday.
These decisions were finalized after high-level deliberations between PM Modi and the nation's top national security chiefs, such as the Defence Minister, National Security Advisor, Chief of Defence Staff, and chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
In a coordinated effort to strike at terror networks in the area, Indian security forces demolished ten houses of overground workers and militants involved in the Pahalgam massacre. They included Adil Hussain Thokar and Asif Sheikh—both belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba—whose houses were demolished in Tral and Bijbehara on April 25.
The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly also condemned unanimously the Pahalgam massacre, moving a resolution on April 28 condemning the dastardly act of terrorism.
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